A few days later, Konoha Village.
The chill of late autumn had been replaced by the biting cold of early winter. The air was dry and freezing, breath misting into frost. Bare branches stretched out against the gray sky, desolate yet carrying the crisp clarity unique to winter.
Menma tightened his black jacket, burying half his face in the rough scarf, leaving only a pair of sapphire blue eyes visible.
"As expected." He murmured, standing before a mirror and examining the changes in his eyes. The transplanted Sharingan and Akaigan, when deactivated, had actually turned a sapphire blue.
'Just how powerful were this body's genes? Was my cheap father, Namikaze Minato, really just an ordinary Civilian Ninja?'
Menma studied these eyes, identical to Naruto's sapphire blue ones, which held a calmness belying his age and even a trace of imperceptible weariness.
He had just returned from the Land of Stars using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Crossing thousands of miles in an instant hadn't placed much physical strain on him, but Shisui's despondent state and the Land of Stars' increasingly enormous structure weighed on his mind like invisible stones.
Today was the weekend, the day he had promised to go eat Ichiraku Ramen with Naruto.
Thinking of Naruto's optimistic figure, a flicker of warmth passed through the depths of Menma's eyes, and he quickened his pace.
In Konoha Park, the evergreen pine trees stubbornly maintained their dark green, but the grass had long since turned yellow.
A few children, hunching their shoulders against the cold, were playing ninja games, wooden kunai and shuriken scattered all over the ground.
"Hey! Are you blind?! You bumped into me, you know?!"
A familiar voice, raised in pitch and full of anger, rang out.
Menma followed the sound and saw Naruto, hands on his hips at the park entrance, glaring furiously at the person in front of him like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
His iconic blond hair was still dazzling under the dim winter light, his cheeks flushed with anger and cold, two small flames burning in his blue eyes.
The target of his yelling was a black-haired boy wearing a dark blue high-collared, short-sleeved shirt with the Uchiha Clan's fan crest on the back… Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke had his hands in his pockets, his chin slightly raised, his delicate face showing undisguised aloofness and a hint of offended arrogance. He had obviously just turned from another path, and the two had brushed against each other at the narrow entrance.
"Hmph." Sasuke let out a light snort from his nose, his dark eyes slanting towards Naruto, his tone carrying the Uchiha's characteristic reserve and a barely perceptible annoyance.
"You're the one who charged around like a headless fly."
The words 'headless fly' were enunciated with particular clarity.
"Who are you calling a headless fly?!" Naruto instantly bristled, his voice rising another octave, almost jumping up and down: "I'm going to be the Hokage! You stuck-up bastard!"
"Heh, Hokage?" A trace of undisguised mockery curled at the corner of Sasuke's mouth, "A loser who can't even walk straight? Keep dreaming."
He couldn't be bothered to continue the argument and lifted his foot to step around Naruto.
"Stop! Apologize to me!" Naruto, however, was relentless, darting forward to block Sasuke's path again, his neck stiff, looking fierce.
The two were about the same height, one like a burning little sun, the other like cold obsidian. Their gazes clashed violently in the frigid air, sparks flying.
The other children nearby had stopped playing, watching the two with curiosity and a bit of fear.
Menma sighed silently and walked over quickly.
He was all too familiar with this kind of scene.
Naruto and Sasuke seemed to possess some strange magnetic field between them. Merely being near each other, even an accidental glance in a crowd, could instantly ignite a battle of words.
"Naruto." Menma's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a peculiar penetrating power, instantly breaking the tense atmosphere between the two.
Naruto turned his head, saw Menma, and the anger on his face was instantly replaced by delight, his eyes lighting up: "Menma! You're here!"
He immediately forgot about Sasuke, hopping over to Menma's side, habitually moving to sling an arm around his shoulder.
"Let's go, let's go! Ramen! I'm starving!" He exaggeratedly rubbed his stomach.
Menma subtly sidestepped half a step, avoiding Naruto's hand, which was covered in grass clippings and dust, but his gaze rested gently on him.
"Yeah, let's go."
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Sasuke.
Sasuke's dark eyes flicked very quickly between Menma and Naruto, a flash of curiosity and scrutiny deep within them.
Just then, a voice as faint as a mosquito's, tinged with obvious nervousness, sounded: "Me-Menma-kun... Na-Naruto-kun..."
The three turned to see Hinata standing timidly a few steps away.
She was dressed in a simple, elegant light purple padded jacket with a white scarf. Her small face was flushed from the cold, and her pure white eyes were slightly lowered due to nervousness, her hands twisting the hem of her clothes awkwardly.
She had followed the sound of Naruto's trademark loud voice.
"Hinata!" Naruto's smile widened when he saw Hinata, and he waved enthusiastically: "Come on! Let's go eat Uncle Teuchi's super ramen together!"
"Mm-hmm!" Hinata responded softly, shuffling over in small steps to stand next to Menma. She stole a glance at Menma, her face turning even redder, and quickly lowered her head again.
This shy demeanor was clearly the [Little Hinata], not the [Big Sis Hinata].
Menma nodded to Hinata in greeting.
He looked at Sasuke again and found the other boy's gaze resting on Hinata, carrying a hint of appraisal, before shifting away and returning to that indifferent, unconcerned expression.
"Let's go." Menma didn't delay any longer, turning first and walking towards the direction of the commercial street.
Naruto immediately followed noisily.
Hinata responded softly, following closely step-by-step beside Menma.
The three of them formed a small group, heading towards the commercial street, which was filled with the aroma of food and warm lights.
Naruto excitedly gestured, seemingly describing to Menma and Hinata how delicious the extra-large portion of chashu he had last time was.
Menma had his hands clasped behind his head, and Hinata, her face red, occasionally responded.
Sasuke stood where he was, not moving.
The cold air whipped up a few dead leaves, swirling past his feet.
His hands in his pockets, he watched the three retreating figures.
The noisy blond Naruto, the shy and quiet Hyuga Clan's heiress, and that guy called Menma... He slightly furrowed his delicate brows.
Those eyes… sapphire blue, exactly like Naruto's, yet deep and still, like a frozen lake.
Moreover, the way Menma had looked at him just now... Sasuke, with his keen perception, had detected an extremely faint scrutiny, different from the other villagers.
That gaze seemed to pierce through his cold, hard exterior, seeing things even he himself hadn't yet understood.
A strange feeling, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, sent ripples through Sasuke's heart.
He pressed his lips together and finally started walking, heading in the direction of the Uchiha Clan's compound.
…
The familiar warm yellow light and the rich, hearty aroma of bone broth from Ichiraku Ramen acted like a warm harbor, instantly dispelling the cold from outside.
The small shop was steamy and bustling, the few long benches almost full of customers.
"Teuchi-san! Three extra-large miso chashu ramen bowls! Extra chashu! Menma's treating!" Naruto charged in first, expertly squeezing up to the counter, slapping the countertop and shouting with full energy.
The busy Teuchi looked up, saw Naruto's signature grin, and Menma and Hinata following behind, his face immediately breaking into a kindly smile: "Oh! Naruto, Menma, and Hinata! Sit, sit! Extra-large miso chashu, extra chashu! Coming right up!"
His gaze, when it swept over Menma and Naruto, held a trace of gentle pity for the orphans, barely perceptible.
The three squeezed into the only remaining seats at the counter.
Naruto rubbed his hands together eagerly, staring fixedly at the large pot boiling in the kitchen.
Hinata sat carefully next to Menma, sipping the hot barley tea Ayame brought to warm her hands, occasionally stealing glances at Menma's profile.
Menma sat quietly, taking off his scarf, revealing a youthful face that looked somewhat weary.
Soon, three steaming bowls of ramen, piled high with tempting chashu, were placed before them.
The rich aroma aggressively drilled into their nostrils.
"Itadakimasu!" Naruto cheered, grabbing his chopsticks and eagerly scooping up a large clump of noodles. He slurped them up, hissing from the heat but unwilling to spit them out, his face radiant with pure satisfaction.
"Be careful, it's hot." Menma said, looking somewhat exasperated at this foolish younger brother.
Hinata picked up her chopsticks, lifting a single noodle with refined movements and blowing on it gently.
Menma didn't start eating immediately.
He watched Naruto wolfing down his food, soup stains at the corner of his mouth, laughing carefreely. Those sapphire blue eyes, identical to his own, clearly reflected the steam rising from the ramen.
For a fleeting moment, that image of blond hair and blue eyes overlapped with a memory from deep within… another person with a similarly brilliant smile and a fiery personality, his mother Uzumaki Kushina, in some vague, warm dinner scene.
His heart felt as if gently squeezed by an invisible hand, stirring up a fine, aching warmth.
Silently, he picked up his chopsticks, and one by one, he steadily picked up the few glossy, thick slices of chashu from his own bowl, then gently placed them into Naruto's already overflowing bowl.
"Huh?" Naruto, who was burying his head in the bowl, felt the weight in his bowl increase and looked up blankly, soup still dripping from his mouth.
He saw the extra chashu in his bowl, then looked at Menma's bowl, which now only held lonely noodles and toppings, and was stunned.
"Menma? You… you eat it! Why give it to me?"
"I'm not very hungry." Menma's voice was calm and even, betraying no emotion. He just lowered his head, picked up a strand of noodles, and began eating slowly, as if he had done the most ordinary thing.
His gaze fell on the steam rising from his bowl, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyes, hiding the complex emotions churning within.
What he had given away was more than just a few slices of chashu.
It was more like carefully, clumsily, trying to fill the chasm that lay between them as brothers… a chasm forged by conspiracy and time, spanning years, and even more than a dozen years to come.
Every time he drew closer, every time he gave in such an insignificant way, it was like tentatively touching a fragile dream.
Naruto blinked, looking at Menma's lowered profile, then looked down at the extra meat in his bowl. The noisy expression on his face slowly faded.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just said a forceful 'Thanks', lowered his head, and continued eating large mouthfuls of noodles. Only, his movements seemed a little slower than before, and he chewed more vigorously.
A strange, warm feeling, mixed with the heat from the ramen, spread from his stomach all the way to his heart, driving away all the winter chill.
Hinata sat quietly to the side, eating her noodles in small bites. Her pure white eyes took in all these subtle interactions.
She could sense the heavy, unspoken tenderness Menma, beneath his age-inappropriate calmness, held for Naruto.
Her cheeks were flushed, whether from the steam of the ramen or from the warmth silently flowing between the brothers.
The ramen shop was bustling with noise, the clatter of bowls and chopsticks, the laughter and talk of customers, Teuchi's loud calls, all woven together, filled with the warmth of human life.
The steam from Menma's bowl rose in a haze, blurring the outline of his lowered face. Only those sapphire blue eyes were faintly visible behind the billowing white mist, thoughts no one could understand.