The apartment was small.
Not small like cozy — small like neglected. One window. Two thin mats. Cracked walls. A kitchen that rattled when you boiled water too hard.
But it was home.
Even if the floor creaked. Even if the pipes groaned. Even if the landlord glared at them like they were stray dogs.
Inside, Ren sat on the floor, back against the wall, one leg stretched out and the other bent beneath him. An open book rested on his knee — a borrowed, half-burned scroll about chakra flow.
Across from him, on the other mat, Naruto was waving a wooden spoon around like it was a kunai.
"When I become Hokage," Naruto said loudly, "I'm gonna make ramen the official village food. Free bowls! Every day!"
Ren didn't look up.
"You already eat ramen every day," he muttered.
Naruto froze, dramatic. "Yeah, but it's not official, y'know?"
Ren turned a page. "Pretty sure your stomach already passed a law."
Naruto scowled, threw the spoon like a dart — it hit the wall and bounced off with a sad clack.
Then came the smirk. "You know I'm older than you, right?"
Ren finally glanced up, one brow lifting.
"Yeah. For five seconds."
Naruto puffed out his chest. "Still counts."
Ren stared for a beat. "So I should call you Onii-chan?"
Naruto paused.
"…Gross."
They both laughed — Naruto loud and wide, Ren quiet but real.
The light from the single window hit them both just right — two shadows on a floor, two brothers with nothing but each other.
Ren closed the book gently and rested his arms on his knees.
"We start the Academy soon."
Naruto grinned. "We're gonna crush it."
Ren said nothing for a moment.
Then: "You're going to try to prank the teachers, aren't you."
Naruto held up two fingers like a fox hand seal. "Believe it."
Ren sighed through his nose, but the corner of his mouth lifted.
"We'll crush it," he said softly.
Naruto's face lit up at the words — like Ren had just promised him the world.
And maybe he had.
Because in this village that hated them, ignored them, cursed them…
They still had one thing no one could take away.
Each other.