The sun arose with its radiance. Shining upon the earth with the light it brings. The ball of light's presence marks the start of the day for the planet's inhabitants. And one of such people is now lying peacefully on top of a bed, comfortably snuggled beneath a blanket. Chest rising up and down slowly without disturbance. Expression of peace on her face, deep in the realm of bliss.

That is, until her eyelids start to open, revealing a pair of glistening sapphires.

"...Baka, Ma-kun."

XXXX

I feel a warm feeling on top of my face. Opening my eyes, I immediately shut it the very next moment a ray of sunlight blinding my sight. Rubbing my eyes with my hand, I then try to open it for the second time, now more than ready to welcome the light of the sun.

Only to find the sun is way closer to me than I thought.

In front of me, my sister is smiling widely to herself. Face reddening as if feeling embarrassed, with bright blue eyes that seems to be shining from where I am looking. She seems to be playing with the buttons on the shirt I wear for sleeping. The sight confused me. Less than twelve hours ago she was a sobbing wreck. Now after a night's sleep she becomes this cheerful?

It baffles me to be honest. But I can't help but feel happy about this. As long as she is happy and not agonizing over her insecurity then I am happy for her. I feel the edge of my lips raised a little bit.

"Morning, nee-san."

"E-Eh? Y-You are awake?"

Ah, how cute, nee-san. Her face is now resembling a tomato, ready to burst open with embarrassment. I can't help but tease her a little bit more, after all this is a rare occurrence for her to be awake before me.

I hug her closer to me, putting her head below me, I then inhale the delightful scent by planting my face on top of her hair.

"M-Ma-kun! S-Stop it!"

Instead of stopping, I hug her tighter to my body while rubbing my face on top of her. After a minute charging myself of her warmth, I pulled her away from me. She is now pouting with a few droplets of tears on the edge of her eyes.

...I think I went too far this time.

I raised her chin to look at me. Our position right now is still at the top of the bed, so I can see the tears on her eyes running down to the side where her face is meeting the bed.

"Hmm? What's wrong Naru?"

Instead of answering me, she pushed her body to me so that she is now on top of me with her face planted on the crook of my neck. I can feel the tears wetting my shirt the next moment.

Now I am feeling worried. But before I can try to console her, she adjusts her position. She now loops both of her arms on the back of my neck and proceeds to hug me tighter. By the time she stops I can feel her body shaking against me.

Her movement has made this quite a painful position for me. My neck can't withstand this for too long before getting sore, which is not what I want to feel in the morning.

"...nee, Ma-kun. Are you serious about what you just said tonight?"

...Blast, did she really hear me saying those things before I went to sleep? Did I let out my thoughts without noticing it? I thought you were sleeping, nee-san!?

"There, you start doing that again. Just answer my question, Menma."

I can feel my face reddening slowly by now. I am embarrassed for what I had said to her before. The events prior to my sleep must have really affected me, for me to say those embarrassing lines right beside her without realizing it. I can only nod my head to her question, which she clearly felt even though our position is like this.

"...Really? Even though I keep making you worry?"

"It's a little brother's job to support his older sister, Naru. Even more so for us twins."

I can feel her chuckling on my neck. Her body no longer shakes, so I take it she is now calm enough for me to not worry anymore. She then tugged at my hair and smelled it by pressing her face on it.

Her sudden movement surprised me for a bit, but I just let her be. I miss doing this kind of thing to be honest. Ever since we started living together in this apartment, I always made sure to be awake first to prepare for our morning routine. Cooking breakfast takes time, so I prepare the dishes first before awakening her. We always shower at the same time to not waste the water.

...Which reminded me, is it normal for kids to still bathe together at the age of ten? It was at times like this that I have no idea. Raised as a sole child makes me lack the information on what is normal for siblings our age, and what is not. And the lack of parents in our life only worsen the situation. My instinct is all I have to follow on this, which is quite reliable, for it has saved us for multiple times.

Thought for later, find out about the house prices in this village. Don't get me wrong, this single bedroom apartment we live in now is not that bad at all. But there's something called 'puberty' that would hit me and Naru which might make this living condition quite awkward for us later. Being a pair of siblings with a different gender than each other would make it more than likely to happen, maybe even before we graduate from the academy in the following years.

A harsh tug on my hair pulled me away from my thoughts. I look at the narrowed eyes of my sister who no longer sniffed at my hair as if it was the most fragrant thing in the world. I decided to rub my head to lessen the pain still lingering.

"It hurts, nee-san."

She just 'hmphed' and turned her face aside, which only makes her seem cute in my eyes.

"You think too much, Ma-kun. You are lucky you always smell good, so I forgive you this time."

She then turned her face back to me before letting out a victorious smile at my perplexed face. I just let out a sigh after looking at her antics, I guess it is my fault to ignore her when she is having fun with my hair.

Glaring lightly at her, I push my body to sit, which makes her promptly tighten both of her arms on my neck so she doesn't fall to the bed. I then make a mess of her hair with my hand, which makes her squirm wildly on my lap.

"W-What are you doing, Ma-kun!?"

"Payback, nee-san! If you want to sniff a fragrant hair then grow your own hair!"

After a few minutes of messing around, I let her away from me. She then glared at me, which is quite funny considering she now has her hair become so messy.

"Easy for you to say! I always feel itchy when they touch my face, why do you think I have my hair cut shorter than you?"

Yeah, to be fair I know that she has quite sensitive skin. Hard to not to, when she used to frantically scratch her skin all over her body back a few years ago. It was when we were still at that cursed Orphanage. I remember how it made me act like a headless chicken at that time. Thankfully it was not a serious disease that made her like that. Seeing my sister who was never sick having rashes on her skin is not something I want to experience for any time soon.

But hearing her complain about it again makes me remember something. I can't believe I forgot about it. That thing might be the thing that could solve her skin problem. Getting out of the bed, I walk to our shared cabinet and pull out a glass bottle filled with golden liquid. I then get back to Naruto while holding the bottle in my hand.

She seems to be curious about what I am carrying. An eyebrow raised when she saw what was inside of the bottle.

"What is that?"

I lift the bottle so that she can clearly see the label put on the side of the bottle.

"...Yamanaka? Did Ino give you this?"

I nod at her before explaining where I got this bottle.

"Yes, she gave me this yesterday when I complained about my head being itchy after we had our Taijutsu lesson. I figured this might help you, nee-san."

By her expression I can tell she is sceptical, moreso because this is given from someone she is not that friendly with. But before she could answer me, a growl reached our ears. Looking at her embarrassed face, I realize where the noise comes from. I feel the urge to facepalm seeing that.

Of course this would happen. She skipped dinner after all, and her crying must take quite a bit of energy. And with that, I made up my mind.

I pull her from bed and lead her to the dining room. She made no complaints following me on our way to the table. I then checked the pot on the table and found some red bean soup left. Lifting the pot to the stove, I left it to reheat for a few minutes. Meanwhile nee-san patiently waited on the table while looking at the bottle I left at the table.

I let her be alone while I prepare our utensils and make some sandwiches from what was left in the fridge. I decided to make some tomato juice when I spotted the grocery bag we brought home last night. Those two put too many tomatoes inside! How can I even consume all of this before they become rotten? Make nee-san to eat them as a side dish for her meal?

I shake my head a little bit before I took a look at the other things beside the tomatoes that seemed to take one-third of the bag's capacity. I see a bunch of spinach, carrots, potatoes, red beans, bread, and surprisingly a few cuts of meat.

….I don't think I can consume all of this alone. Nee-san is not gonna help me with this. The red beans? Sure, but the others? I need to change my diet. I hope by the end of this I can still enjoy curry as a food instead of a chore.

I then put all of the bag's contents inside of the fridge. Tempted as I am, we have no time left to cook the vegetables inside the bag. Let alone the vegetables, the rice alone would take too much time to cook before it can be eaten. And eating meat without any rice is not something I would consider a healthy diet for a growing child in their ten years of age.

After I was done with making the juice I put them inside a bottle for me to drink at lunch later. I have also done the same with nee-san's drink, but instead of tomato juice, I fill it with plain drinking water. Considering how hyperactive she is, I figure that she would want to drink it even after having lunch.

*WHEZEE*

The pot let out a steam noise which made me promptly turn off the stove and then lift the pot to put it on the dining table. Nee-san who sees me doing this is eagerly waiting for me with a bowl and spoon in both of her hands, while still sitting in her chair.

I put down the pot on the table and then open up the lid. The sweet smell of the soup hit my nose like a train, which makes me cringes a little bit.

...I need to eat something else, the red bean soup is not something I want to eat first thing in the morning. And I will be damned if I would bring it as my lunch later at the academy.

I shake my head and then look at my sister who seems to be pouting now. I decided to ask her.

"What's wrong, nee-san?"

Still with the pout on her cheek, she turns to me while pointing at the inside of the pot.

"There's only a little bit left, I thought there would be more"

I raise an eyebrow hearing her say that. I then look at the inside of the pot and see that the soup is not as much as I thought it would be. I estimate that it would be about three servings left, and considering her appetite…

I guess I don't have to eat it for breakfast and lunch after all.

Looking at my sister, I smile widely with my eyes closed.

"Well, then you may eat them all, nee-san. But leave some of them for your lunch later. I would just make sandwiches for myself." I said while making my way to the fridge. Not hearing any reply I let her be, I figure she is now busy gobbling down the soup on her own.

I open up the fridge and pull the ingredients needed for making a sandwich. A few minutes later, four sandwiches are made. I normally don't eat that much for my meals. But considering that I haven't had a sandwich for quite some time, I can't help but feel a little bit ravenous.

Turning back to the dining table with two sandwiches on my plate, I see nee-san who looks crestfallen for some reason.

"Nee-san, what's wrong?" I ask her while sitting down on the table.

She doesn't respond at all.

I am now feeling concerned for her. I stand from my chair and drag it with me until I am right beside her. I then put down the chair and sat on it. Looking back at her I see her face is still the same as before. I put my hand on top of her hand on the table while still looking at her face.

Calmly, I said to her, "If you are not in a hurry, the soup will become cold."

That seems to make her respond. But instead of turning to her meal to eat it, she now slowly turned her face to me.

"Nee, Menma. Why do you keep doing this?" said her slowly while not meeting my eyes.

I grasp her hand tighter when hearing her words. Did I make a mistake? I thought I was just being a helpful little brother. But the way she said those words makes it sound like I just did something bad.

I now feel scared, I don't want to make her upset. The thought that I become the source of her unhappiness makes me sick. We are twins with no one else to depend on. In this barbaric world with no morality left, there is no way I would let her be harmed by anyone, especially me!

That feeling of something heavy on my chest is coming back to me. I can feel myself frantically gasping for air, as if I had been running non stop for tens of miles without stopping.

But it all vanishes when I feel a body hugging me so tight that I return back to reality.

The body of my sister hugging me feels warm. Her hands rubbing the back of my head comfortingly, makes me feel as if she is trying to calm me down. Just as usual, making contact with her like this makes my worry fade away. I don't know if it is actually a normal thing for twins, or it is just me that is weird for feeling like this, but I can't deny it at all.

"Baka, Ma-kun! Baka! Why do you keep doing this! Stop treating me as if I am a little kid!" said her while still calmly stroking the back of my head. "We are twins, with me being the older sister! You don't have to keep prioritizing me over yourself!"

I never thought about it like that. But when I look back at the things that I have done without her input…

Am I too overbearing?

… I can't help it, we may be twins in this world. But I still have life experience prior to being born here. I can't just keep acting like a kid that doesn't know anything about the world. The circumstances may be different, but it doesn't change the fact that I had more years of experience compared to her, as little as it maybe.

But it can't be denied that I had ignored her say in some matters in the past, acting as if she can't choose her own decisions.

This is a wake up call for me. No one should have absolute control over someone else, even for twins like us. And to think I have done so to her many times in the past…

The last thing I want is her having to experience the same thing that happens to me. My memories of those times are still fresh in my mind. And the thought of that happening to her makes me uncomfortable.

"There, there. I am not angry, Menma." her soothing voice calmed me down. Her hand now is stroking my back, which makes me comfortable.

After a few minutes, I pulled my body away from her hug. But a hand caught me by surprise when it grasped my chin to look at my sister's face.

"I just want you to hear me out before you decide something for the both of us, okay? After all, I am your nee-san." said her before giving me a wide smile.

I can feel my eyes tearing up hearing it, but I quickly wipe it out with my hand. Looking at her still smiling face, I let out a nod and then smiled at her.

"Of course, nee-san."

But the mood is blown away when I take a look at the clock on the wall. I widen my eyes looking at the time shown on it.

"Nee-san, we would be late if we are not in a hurry, look at the clock!" I said it while pointing at the object. That seems to surprise her based on her sharp movement.

"Crap! I would get punished by Iruka-sensei again!"

I grab the sandwiches on my plate and put it in front of my mouth, "Then hurry eat your meals!" After saying those words I proceed to eat the food in front of me.

Nee-san seems to follow my advice, eating the soup as fast as she can. While still munching on my last sandwich, I work on putting our meals to the lunchboxes with one hand. It might be helped by adrenaline, but I smoothly do it without any problem.

When it's all done I turn back to my sister who is now gulping her water, and then pass me the glass which I gladly receive. A glass of water later I am done with my breakfast. I then turn to nee-san only to receive a towel on my face.

"Quick, Menma! I don't want to be late!" said her while pulling on my wrist.

Seriously, why does she suddenly act like this now? Hasn't she used to be so calm before? It's not that I disapprove of her being responsible like this, but it's just so sudden!

I then grab the bottle given to me by Ino before this sister of mine pulls me too far away from the dining table.

"Okay-okay nee-san, I will follow you so don't pull me too haaard!"

XXX

A few minutes later…

"Yes! We are not late!"

I am too busy catching my breath to respond to her. Thank god my wrist isn't bruised after being in her tender 'care'. Running while having your wrist pulled hard by an energetic hyperreactive kid like her is quite tiring. Is this karma for me doing it many times to her in the past?

"Menma, what are you doing?" said the blond knucklehead.

"Can't you see I am catching my breath, Naruto?" I said to her after feeling that I can now feel the oxygen filling up my lungs.

"Well then, let's hurry! The class might be starting anytime soon!" but before she could grasp my wrist and pull me again, I stood up and crossed my arms in front of me making an 'X'.

"I can walk on my own, so no thank you!"

She then had the audacity to pout in front of me. But I can't help but be petty after being dragged like that. So I started to walk ahead of her.

"Hey, Menma! Wait for me!" A sound from behind me makes me cringes, doesn't she know that her voice is too loud? Forget about being late to the class, she might get punished for making a loud noise in the hallway!

But still being a petty little thing I am, I ignore her in my march to the classroom.

On my way to my destination I feel something strange. I see no one else besides us in the hallway. There were no other students nor any teacher who caught my sight. It can't be that the class has already started, for if that is indeed the case then the academy gate should be closed when we arrive.

...Something is not right.

The feeling stays with me until I arrive at the classroom. The chatter that can be heard from the outside makes me nervous. This is the first time this has happened to me, usually It's Naruto who keeps getting late after screwing around with her friends instead of following me into the class the moment we arrive at the academy.

Speaking of the said girl, I can feel her grinning while looking at me from my side.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Open the door, this is for laughing at me when Iruka-sensei threw that blackboard eraser at that time. You wouldn't mind taking it on my stead do you, Otouto?"

What kind of reasoning is that!? I only laughed at her at that time because it took me by surprise! Is this her way of replying to my pettiness?

I take a gulp before pushing the door at once. I figure that it's better to get it done as fast as possible. Who knows, Iruka's instinct might spare me by guiding his aim to this brat beside me instead.

But none of that happens, instead of chatter discussing the subject being teached by the teachers, I can see that the other students inside are gossiping with each other. With the girls being the loudest. Which makes sense considering there are no teachers I see in the class.

The moment I entered the class a pink haired girl caught me in her sight, before calling out to me.

"Menma-kun! Here!" shout her while waving her arm to me. Instead of promptly making my way to her, I look at my twin beside me. Feeling my attention on her, she let out a smile while shaking her head.

"Go on, Menma. They are waiting for you. I would be with the guys, as per usual." said her while pushing my back. I just let out a nod to her before making way to where the girls are.

When I arrive I take a look at who else besides Sakura there. I see pale blond haired girl looking intently at my face, which makes me quite nervous. Feeling uncomfortable, I take a look at the purple haired girl sitting shyly beside her, as per usual she seems not that comfortable to be in anyone's full attention. But considering she is still in here and not bolting away from Sakura and Ino who are a massive tease, I can't help but feel proud of her.

After all, those two can be too much for anyone, especially when they are collaborating with each other. I know about it first hand after all the teasing those two do to me.

But to my surprise there is another person here. I thought it would be only three of them, but the presence of the fourth girl confused me for a bit. Isn't she my senior by one grade? What is she doing here in her junior's classroom? Its better if I ask her directly instead of making any assumptions

"Nice to meet you here Tenten, though I am quite puzzled on why you are here." I said after smiling and nodding at the other girls in my class.

Ten-ten decided to give her own smile to me before answering my unspoken question, "Nice to meet you too Menma-kun, we were just talking about something quite shocking before you arrived. And as for why I am here, I can't really tell you because I am not so sure myself, all we were told by the teacher is to gather in your class for the time being."

Her answers only confuse me more, "We?"

She nodded, "Yes, some of my classmates are also in this class" said her while pointing behind her.

From my position in front of the class, I can see some unfamiliar faces mingled among my peers. One such unfamiliar face is talking enthusiastically with my sister while her friends are watching with varying expressions, from bored, puzzled, and energetic.

But before I can analyze the whole class, I feel a hand grasping my shoulder. I suddenly feel a bad feeling. Turning to where the arm leads to I find Ino who is smiling widely while cocking a hand on her hip.

"So, how was it? Do you still feel itchy?" said the girl who seems like she is about to devour me at any time. I grab her hand on my shoulder and put it down while maintaining eye contact with her.

Giving her a genuine smile, I said, "The shampoo you gave me was nice, Ino. The smell is quite lovely." as if to prove my point I grab my hair and take a smell at it. The smell is really nice, as expected from a daughter of a flourist like Ino.

"Right? Right!? Does it mean I can braid your hair, Menma-kun!?" said Ino while shaking me frantically with her hands on my shoulder.

"H-Hey Ino! That's not fair! It's my turn now!" Sakura, you are not helping!

"Bweeeh! Suck it, Forehead! This smoothness is too delicate for your gorilla grip." As befitting of a ten year old, Ino blew a raspberry to the pink haired girl.

"F-Forehead!? I will make you eat those words you Pig!" Sakura is not willing to back down it seems.

And there they go, wrestling each other on top of the desk. I would normally split them apart when they are like this, but considering that I don't want to have my hair braided in many complicated styles before the two of them are satisfied, I decide to let them be.

Seriously, I usually end up having to sleep with those braids because I can't untangle them myself!

Sighing, I turn back my attention to the last two sane girls in our group.

"So, what were you girls talking about prior to my arrival?" I decided to ask the two of them instead of quietly watching the two girls still going at each other less than three meter from my position.

"Anoo... We were talking about the Uchihas." Hinata said it while not being able to maintain eye contact with me for more than two seconds. Well, at least she is not having that heavy stutter this time. But still, why were they talking about the Uchihas? Are they pushing for changing the Hokage again? I know that Fugaku-san is quite a capable shinobi, but I doubt that he would be able to get chosen as the next Hokage. After all, the Uchiha doesn't have the best relationship with the other clans and the general population, what with the rumour spreading about their involvement with the tragedy Ten years ago.

"Hmm? What happens with the Uchiha? Are they being antagonized by the village council again?" I decide to ask Hinata directly for this, considering her father is one of the clan heads in the council, I figure that she would have known if something happened in the council.

But instead of HInata who was answering me, Tenten decided to do so instead.

"Umm.. Menma-kun, haven't you heard the news?"

Did I miss something?

"What news?" I ask the black haired girl.

"The Uchiha… were all massacred, except for one person"

….What?

"H-huh? W-what do you mean Tenten? An elite clan like Uchiha being massacred?" I can't believe my ears, as far as I know the Uchiha are the elites of this village, all of the police force of the entire village was in their clan!

"Guess you really don't know, huh? It all happened last night, the report said that all of the clan members were brutally massacred by a man named Itachi Uchiha, the motive is still unknown, but some speculate that he went crazy after being a shinobi too early."

...It can't be, Itachi Uchiha, that name is quite familiar, but if it's him and there is one person spared from him, it must be that kid!

"What about Sasuke-san!? Is he the one who got spared?" I ask her while moving my face directly in front of her. I can feel a heavy pressure on my chest clouding my eyes. Please not again, I don't wanna experience this again.

She seemed to be quite uncomfortable for a moment before straightening her face and answering my question, "He is safe, but that experience must be quite heavy on his mind."

I can feel myself being relaxed for a little bit, the pressure on my chest vanished. He might not be a close friend of mine, but I don't want to imagine what it would feel like when someday a teacher told me that a classmate of mine was killed while still being a little kid like us now.

Letting out a sigh I pull myself back from her face.

Now feeling fine, I ask her, "So, which room is he in now? I figure we should visit him at the hospital after this, I am worried about his mental state right now."

But instead of answering which number he is in now, she surprised me, "Umm… He is not at the hospital right now, he is in here" and with an arm pointing at the corner of the back, I follow her with dread.

...It can't be, what is he doing here!?

There, right at the corner, is a boy staring blankly ahead. His hair that seems to mimic a certain poultry looks deflated. Staring at his face makes the dread that I felt before come back with a vengeance.

This can't be happening, why is he in here, why aren't you at the hospital, Sasuke!?

AND WHAT WAS THAT OLD FOOL THINKING TO LET HIM IN HERE!?