Secret No More

Chapter 3

    Contrary to Boruto’s belief, Naruto wasn’t stupid. He knew Boruto had been trying to follow him when he left the house on his days off. He was the fucking Hokage for crying out loud, he would be a pretty terrible Hokage if he didn’t know. And as such, he knew Boruto, shortly followed by Sarada, were roof and tree jumping as he took his travel to the house in the clearing. HIS house in the clearing. He also knew Kakashi had followed him, but made no actions toward either party that would make them believe he knew. Besides, he knew Kakashi wouldn’t let the two snoopy genin any closer to the house than the treeline, so for now, his secret was safe.
    Naruto placed the bag in his right hand down on the front porch and pulled out his key, sliding it in the doorknob and turning it, unlocking the door. He put his key away and picked the bag up off the ground, turning the doorknob enough to slightly open the door and then pushing it open with his foot. He walked inside with a small smile and used the same foot to close the door behind him.
    He pressed his back against the door as he slipped his shoes off. Once they were off he transferred the ramen takeout from his left hand to his right hand and used his free hand to move his shoes off to the side of the entryway. He leaned back against the door once more, transferring the ramen takeout back to his left hand and stood in silence, waiting for the chakra of both future Genins to leave.
    He didn’t have to wait long. After about five minutes he felt their chakras go farther and farther away until he couldn’t sense them any longer. He smiled once more and kicked off the door, walking out of the entryway and into the living room. A wide open space with matching seating, a large coffee table, and a fireplace. A black rug sat under the table and couch, matching perfectly with the wood floor that made up the house’s floors. The ceiling lights were carved into the ceiling, creating a lovely dim effect with the lighting and a few pictures covered the walls and sat on the side tables, which also held table lamps. There was a glass sliding door on the wall opposite to the entryway that led to the backyard, which had its own garden, and training ground per Naruto's request, and on either side of the door were bookshelves filled to the brim with books and scrolls.
    Opposite of the fireplace were the black marble counters of the kitchen that had shelving in a window shape, effectively giving it the illusion of being a wall. The kitchen itself was similar in build to the living room, being a relatively large space with black marble top light brown counters with a black dishwasher and stove and extremely clean silver sink. There was a window above the sink, peering into the back yard, with a dish drying rack on the right to it. The stove a couple feet away from that with a black microwave above that. There was a modernized fridge on the far end of the counters near the stairs to the left of the entryway ( a pantry on the wall before it) and it [The Kitchen] was full of all necessary items and food. There was also a matching island in the middle of the room. Naruto was very proud of how clean both rooms were.
    Naruto walked over to the island and placed both of his bags on top of it, shuffling through the ramen bag and pulling out two containers of Tonkotsu Miso Ramen. One with tomatoes on it. He placed the complementary chopsticks from Ichiraku Ramen on top of the containers and left, heading towards the stairs near the fridge.
    There was a hallway on the other side of these stairs, with a bathroom and workroom, complete with a desk, mobile chair, and multiple shelves of books along with all the required materials of paper and writing utensils located in it, with the rooms above it being another workroom and a reading room that was covered floor to ceiling in shelves and shelves of books. With multiple beanbags and chairs around the windows and the room. 
    Naruto made his way to the second floor of the home and was met with a longer hallway, with three bedrooms, one a master bedroom, a master bathroom and a smaller bathroom, and a closet. With a trap door in the ceiling that went to the attic, which was rarely used. The ceiling lights up here were also carved into the ceilings.
    Naruto made a beeline for one bedroom in particular, its door was different from the rest. It was a black door, compared to the other white doors, with a red and white fan with a swirl symbol painted on it near the top. The words ‘Menma’ are painted in big white overlapping bubble letters with a light blue gradient.
    He stopped in front of the door and reknock three times on the door, smiling in excitement as he heard a thud and quick shuffling through the door. It wasn't long before the door swung open and he was tackled to the floor with a ‘oof’. 
    He laughed as he hugged the person, a young boy with spiky black hair with blue eyes and whiskers on his cheeks, back. It had been quite a while since his last visit, almost a month to be exact. And while Naruto had had Kakashi and Iruka, and even Sasuke, come visit him, he figured the boy still would have missed him. He was right.
   
    “Hey buddy,” he laughed, “miss me?” The boy pulled away from the blonde with a mock pout and crossed his arms.

    “‘Course I did, dummy. You’re my Mama, why wouldn’t I miss you?” Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head.

    “Touche '' Naruto patted the boy's back and the raven haired boy got up off of the Hokage, giving him room to stand and brush himself off. He gestured to the stairs, “C’mon dattebayo, why don't we go downstairs to the kitchen and catch up. I bought Ramen and-” 
    The boy took off down the stairs before he could finish speaking at the mention of Ramen. Naruto blinked before a fond smile formed across his features. The boy really was so much like him. “Ne, Menma. You’re going to be the death of me…” 
    He followed Menma’s example and headed back down stairs.