Menma takes a look at his surroundings. The street is filled with many people minding their own business, from people walking to their destination, people who stop at the front of a myriad of shops littered at the side of the streets, to people who stopped to talk with their friends. Carefully looking at the street, Menma fiddles with the various balls that seem to be made of clothes in both of his hands.

His attention broke the moment a shierk is heard from his back.

Menma let out a sigh before readying himself for what is to come. And then a hand grabs his arm out of nowhere, forcing him to run along with the person who forced him to.

"Menma, ready the surprises! those jerks are right behind us!"

"Don't call them that. They are just doing their jobs, which makes us the jerks instead."

Seeing the face so similar to him pouting feels so wrong while being right at the same time. But considering the person is his identical twin he should not whine, too much.

Running at high speed, the two of them deftly avoid the pedestrian walking near them. The way they do this shows how many times this has been done by the two children. One can wonder how much stamina the two of them have, considering their speed matches if not exceeds the speed of the shinobi pursuing their tail.

"Just what had you done that caused such a loud shriek?" Menma calmly asks his twin while maintaining his speed following the person who is still holding his right arm. The bright, wide smile on the identical blonde is not what he was hoping for. Palming his face, he shakes his head.

"Hehehe, I flipped that nice lady's skirt on my way to you, those jerks are so pathetic they gave me the chance to put more distance just because a skirt is spiked up in front of their eyes." Naruto proudly smiles with pride. Menma held back his sigh and decided to be silent, focusing on making their escape from their pursuers.

"There's those brats! Catch them!"

A loud shout behind the twin makes them turn their face back to see who is the one who said that. What they see is a bunch of shinobi wearing a green flak jacket, indicating their rank as a Jounin. The sight is making Menma's eyes widen considerably, while Naruto smiles wider seeing them coming for the two of them.

"You didn't tell me it was a bunch of Jounin pursuing you!" Shout Menma who sped up his steps, following his twin who does the same as him. Naruto just ignored his whine and instead focused on their surroundings carefully. In the next moment a devious smirk shows its way to the now vulpine-like face.

"Look there, that's the perfect spot!"

Hearing that, Menma scanned the place ahead of them. It was a familiar place in an alley between two buildings. The place is littered with trash bins from the two shops it is sandwiched in. And a glint made its way into the sapphire eyes, his brain processing a plan to let them out of their current predicament, namely the Jounins behind them who keep pursuing their tail.

"Then let's hurry, we need to ambush them there!"

The smirk on Naruto's face seems to be wider by now, which makes the boy who is looking at it feel pumped, ready to enact the plan.

A few seconds later five men wearing Konoha Shinobi uniforms land on the mouth of the alley. One of them is ready to bolt into the inside of the alley, but an arm immediately grabs his shoulder.

"Don't be so hasty, that is the last thing you want to do in this situation. I know how those brats think, we all clumped up together in the middle before a myriad of traps raining on us."

"So what should we do, then?" The man who's shoulder grabbed shakes the arm holding him before carefully looking at the inside of the alley.

"Let me go in first to check if it is a trap."

The man proposes to the group behind him, hearing no reply he proceeds to run until he reaches the middle of the alley, standing still in there, readying himself for any trap the twin prepared.

'Huh, nothing.'

The group, seeing their leader not bombarded with anything, think that this is just a false alarm and proceed to run together at the same time inside of the alley.

The leader who sees the other Jounins run towards him widens his eyes. He realises it was too late by now. They were baited. And It makes him cringes, ready for the traps raining upon them, courtesy by the now infamous Prankster Twin.

And come, it does.

*BOOM*

"Aaaaahh!"

"Itching powder again!? Whyyy!?"

The spectacle of five Jounins being caught inside of a hilarious trap is quite fascinating, considering the state of said Jounins by the end of the trap's bombardment. But then again, considering who set those traps, this is quite a normal thing to happen. The people who saw the spectacle just laughed while continuing their activity. After all, this is quite a common occurrence by now.

Two pairs of sapphire orbs looked at their work from a few buildings away from the scene.

"Yosshhh! Great job Otouto! those nasty traps of yours are as reliable as usual" Naruto pats Menma's back a few times for a job well done. Menma who is being praised let out an embarrassed smile to his twin.

"Don't make it sounds as if I am some kind of delinquent, Nee-san"

Naruto just smiles proudly at her brother. Before pumping her fist out to the sky while dragging her brother away from their spot. Menma, now completely used to how his twin sister behaved, just let himself be dragged to where she wanted, but not before asking her.

"Where?"

"To celebrate this success no place is better than Ichiraku!" say the short haired girl.

"No." say Menma

"Eeehhhh!?" Shriek the girl hearing her brother's response. The boy just kept a straight face seeing his sister's reaction. Looking at her eyes, Menma grabs Naruto's attention to himself.

"We need to set aside our allowance for our savings."

"B-but my ramen.." By now, a pool of tears settled on both of her eyes, making Menma feel guilty for it. But he can't budge on this one, for a pair of orphans like them, making a savings may help them in the foreseeable future.

But the sight of his sister making such a sad face is making him quite uncomfortable. Which makes him decide to alter his decision.

"Fine, but only one bowl."

Hearing her brother changing his mind, Naruto proceeds to stop her walk with her brother mid way. A hug from his sister caught the boy out of guard. He should have known better though, the way his sister craved that noodle dish is quite comparable with an addiction. If it wasn't for him, Naruto would have spent all of their allowance on ramen every single day.

Feeling the girl releasing him from her hug, Menma takes the initiative by grasping his sister's hand with him.

"Then let's hurry, so we can be at home before it gets dark by the time we finish."

"Ha'i!"

XXXXX

Naruto POV

Following my little brother who led the way, I looked at his face from the side. He has blond hair that is longer than my own by quite a few inches. A pair of sapphire orbs for his eyes, and a face that seems softer than mine.

I pout a little bit seeing his face. We are twins, so it was not surprising seeing our stark resemblance. But I bet if anyone sees us right now they would mistake our gender. Why does a boy like him have to have such a girly face? All the girls in class seemed to flock around him whenever we entered the class! It was as bad as that Sasuke-teme!

A hand suddenly found its way on top of my head, making me realise that there's nothing grasping my hand anymore.

"Are you thinking about something, Nee-san?"

Hearing his worried question makes me blush. Here I am, jealous for the attention my little brother has while he keeps looking after me. What kind of big sister I am?

"Nothin'"

"Nee-san.."

"It's something dumb."

"Then tell me, Naru?"

Hearing that pet name from me makes me quite embarrassed, which does not help the situation. "It's just about the girls in the academy who seem to like you, Ma-kun."

"...Are you jealous, Nee-san?"

I can only nod hearing that, feeling more ashamed of the situation. But those shameful feelings were squashed when he hugged me instead. I let myself lean on his shoulder. The scarf he wears tickles my face for a little bit. Feeling the warmth of it, I can understand why he seems to like it so much he wears it everyday.

"They were just teasing me, and it's not like I am going to abandon you, we are twins after all."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

We stayed still in the middle of the street for a few moments. I relax my body by leaning on him. His arms make me feel safe. Moments like this makes me question if I was really the first one born instead of him. Menma has always been the one who comforts me when I start to have silly thoughts in my head.

"So, should we continue our way, Nee-san?"

"Of course, Ma-kun!"

Then we continued on our way to Ichiraku Ramen. Midway I decide to ask Menma about something that has been in my mind since when we entered the academy. Now that after hearing his promise, I am not as insecure as before, so I asked him curiously.

"Nee~ Ma-kun, why did you never call me Nee-san in front of the others? You keep calling me Naruto in front of them, Kiba even asks me if I am really the older one between the two of us."

Menma just chuckles hearing my question, which definitely does not make me pouting, I swear!

"It's just because of how you keep chasing after Sakura and the others, Nee-san." say Menma while continuing to walk while grasping my hand once more. "And how you dress, there's a reason why no one else besides me realizes that you are not a boy."

"Say the one who looks prettier than the girls in our class!"

He seems to cringe a little bit hearing my outburst. But I ignore it, and instead decide to divert the topic.

"I don't know why you are comfortable with hair that long, when my hair is longer I feel itchy around my head, it's the worst!" I press on by pointing at his shoulder length blonde hair. I swear, his face and hair coupled with the clothes he wears, no wonder Kiba keeps asking me if Menma is really a boy instead of a girl, which seems ridiculous if we ignore him making the same mistake with ME!

"Nee-san, you're fuming.."

"No, I am not."

I deny his baseless accusation. But before he can reply, I see the Ichiraku shop ahead of us. Grasping at his hand, I drag him with me toward the shop before he can retort to my denial.

"Ayame-nee! We're here!"

"Oh, Naru-chan, Ma-kun!"

A brown haired girl in her late teens greets us when we enter the shop. A warm pair of brown orbs welcome us into the establishment. Sitting at the stool beside Menma, I raised my hand and ordered my favorite bowl of ramen.

"One miso ramen and one tonkotsu ramen please!"

I decided to order for the two of us before Menma could say anything. I did not specify what the toppings are considering we have visited this place many times before, I am sure Teuchi-san knows what kinds of toppings we both like. It's on our names!

"One miso ramen and one tonkotsu ramen coming!"

An old man's voice behind the counter confirms our order, while Ayame-nee shakes her head seeing me order for the both of us.

"So I heard you have done your pranks again, Naru?"

Hearing her question, I feel pumped up and re-energized. After all, what I have done is a masterpiece that no other people has done in history, except me of course!

"Yes, of course! Have you seen it? It was-"

"Painting the Hokage faces, again yes."

The way she worded and delivered it makes me quite seepish. But to be fair, it was something that had to be done! I only added some colour to make those boring faces more colourful. And the chase after that is easy, just run around the street for an hour through many alleys and those Jounin become tired. Hah! If that's what a Jounin's capability is then becoming a Hokage is not going to be as hard as Menma said!

*BONK*

A hand on my hand broke me from my musing, looking at the person who has done it I find myself my twin who is now scowling at me.

"W-what?"

"You were thinking something dumb, weren't you?"

"N-no!"

I deny his baseless accusation for the second time today with a crossed arm in front of me. But he doesn't seem to be swayed by the gesture.

"Two bowls of ramen coming!"

Hearing Ayame-nee's sound I use the chance to break eye contact with Menma and redirect my eyes to the bowl of ramen in front of me. Holding the bowl closer to me, I prepare to eat the ramen immediately.

A cough interrupted me before I could do so. Tearing my gaze from the ramen, I looked at the side. What I see is Ayame-nee who is now giggling and Menma who is scowling at me, again.

"Nee-san, manners."

Pouting, I clasped my hands in front of the bowl of ramen, and said my prayer.

"Ittadakimasu!"

"Ittadakimasu."

Ignoring his own prayer, I take a sip at the broth. The delicious broth of pork made its way to be greeted by my tongue. Making me let out a satisfied sigh. Taking a naruto with a pair of chopsticks, I bit and then chewed the fishcake. As I expected, Naruto is the best topping for ramen after all!

"Uwaaa, Naruto is the best topping for ramen as I thought."

"Oh really? I bet Ma-kun will disagree."

To prove her point I see a bunch of Menmas on top of the noodles in his bowl of ramen. That and the one on his chopsticks that looks like it was bitten halfway. I can not understand why he likes it so much, the feels of those spring bamboos never suited my tongue. Is it because of our name I wonder?

Shaking my head, I let out a raspberry to him, and turned my attention back to my ramen before he could respond.

In a few minutes we finished our meals. I looked at Menma, waiting to pay for our meals, considering he is the one who keeps our money. It's all because I can not be trusted with our funds he said, Bah!

When he is done, we exit the shop before looking at the sky. Seeing that the sky is turning darker, I turn my attention to Menma who has done the same.

"It's getting dark, let's go home, Nee-san."

"Yeah, we need to wash ourselves. I think some of that Itching powder leaked from the clothes to me."

"That's horrible, then let's hurry, I will scrub it clean for you."

"Really? Thanks, Ma-kun!"