Chapter Text
ONE HOUR BEFORE THE WEDDING
“Naruto. Stop touching my hair.”
Naruto grinned and ruffled it harder.
Menma swatted his hand away, scowling. “I’m serious.”
“You’re getting married, not going into battle,” Naruto laughed, grabbing Menma’s shoulders and shaking him lightly. “Relax! You look fine. Too fine. Honestly, it’s offensive.”
Menma rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth — the first real one Naruto had seen all morning.
“Aren’t CEOs supposed to be dignified?” Menma muttered.
“I am dignified,” Naruto said. “This is peak dignity. Now—”
He reached for Menma’s hair again.
“—quit it!” Menma dodged, finally laughing.
It felt good to see. Ever since he started climbing the political ladder, Menma had become more serious, more polished… more distant. The wedding had only added pressure. Naruto missed the brother who used to steal his ramen and kick him off the couch.
“You nervous?” Naruto asked, straightening Menma’s tie.
“Yes,” Menma said immediately, then caught himself. “I mean— in the good way.”
“That’s normal,” Naruto said. “You’re getting married to Ino. Everyone loves her. She’s smart, classy, terrifying—”
“Terrifying?” Menma asked.
“Have you seen her glare? I’m pretty sure she could cut steel with her eyelashes.”
Menma snorted, tension easing from his shoulders.
“There it is,” Naruto said softly. “Your actual face. Not the politician one.”
Menma looked away, suddenly quiet.
Naruto nudged him. “Hey. You’ll be fine.”
“…Yeah,” Menma murmured. “I hope so.”
Something flickered in his eyes, something Naruto didn’t recognize — but before he could ask, a wedding coordinator burst in and whisked Menma away for photos.
Whatever it was could wait.
Or so Naruto thought.
Occupying himself with the venue, Naruto can’t help but notice the tense ambience.
Guests murmured nervously. The ceremony had been delayed once… twice… now indefinitely. Rumors buzzed like flies. The bridal party looked pale. The Yamanaka family was furious.
Naruto had never seen a wedding collapse in real time before.
“Where’s Menma?” one senator whispered.
“Did the couple fight?”
“Is the bride ill?”
Naruto rubbed his temples, scanning the chaotic banquet hall for his brother. When he finally spotted Menma near a staff-only hallway, the politician looked like he was about to be sick.
Naruto hurried to him.
“Menma— what’s going on? Everyone’s freaking out.”
Menma swallowed hard. “I need your help.”
“I’m already helping,” Naruto said. “Trying to prevent a national scandal here.”
“No. Something else.”
Menma leaned in, dropping his voice to a whisper.
“I need you to break up with someone for me.”
Naruto blinked. “Break up with— excuse me?”
“Please, Naruto.”
Naruto pulled back sharply. “You’re getting married. Today. To Ino. Why do you need someone else broken up with? Don’t tell me you—”
He stopped, horrified.
“Menma. Tell me you weren’t—”
“I don’t have time to explain,” Menma said, voice strained. “Just— go to her. Tell her it’s over.”
Naruto’s voice dropped to a dangerous low. “Absolutely not. That’s wrong. You made vows today— you stood in front of her family— Menma, what the hell did you do?”
“I didn’t— it’s complicated!” Menma hissed. “I just— I can’t hurt her myself.”
“So you want me to?” Naruto snapped. “No. I’m not lying for you. I’m not covering for you. And I’m definitely not breaking some poor woman’s heart because you can’t keep your promises.”
Menma flinched like the words physically hurt him.
“Naruto,” he whispered, “you’re the only one I can trust.”
Naruto shook his head. “Not this time.”
Menma’s face crumpled with something like despair.
Before Naruto could say anything else, a wedding planner rushed over, panicked: “Mr. Namikaze! We need you— the Yamanaka family is demanding answers—”
Menma was pulled away.
Naruto stood there, heart pounding, anger twisting deep in his stomach.
Menma… what did you do?
Naruto spends the remainder of the night avoiding Menma, not wanting to see his brother's face, the brother he respected so much. One who could so callously play with someone's heart and not even have the backbone to accept the consequences. As the ‘happy couple’ depart for their honeymoon, Naruto makes sure to stay at the banquet for long enough to be considered appropriate, getting ready to take his leave.
As he fishes out his car keys, screams echo through the reception hall. Dozens of phones buzzing at once. A breaking news alert flashing on the event screens.
LIMOUSINE COLLISION ON HIGHWAY 14 — POSSIBLE FATALITIES
Naruto’s blood went cold.
“No,” he whispered. “No, no—”
He shoved through the crowd, racing out of the hotel and into his car.
The drive to the hospital was a blur of red lights, sirens, and panic. When he arrived, Jiraiya was struggling to push past reporters swarming the emergency entrance.
“Naruto!” Jiraiya grabbed him, voice shaking. “Come with me.”
“Menma?” Naruto gasped. “Ino? Where are they—”
Jiraiya’s voice cracked. “Ino didn’t make it.”
Naruto staggered.
“And Menma…”
Jiraiya swallowed hard.
“He’s in critical condition. They— they don’t know if he’ll wake up.”
Naruto felt something inside him fracture.
He pushed past nurses, past security, to the ICU doors. Through the window, he saw Menma on a ventilator, surrounded by frantic doctors, his body limp and still.
“No,” Naruto whispered. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare leave me too.”
Machines beeped. Doctors shouted. Menma didn’t move.
Naruto pressed his palm to the glass.
You can’t leave me. You’re all I have left.
Hours passed. Menma was stabilized, but unconscious. Jiraiya sat with Naruto in the quiet corner of the ICU waiting room, both exhausted and silent.
Naruto finally spoke.
“Earlier… before the wedding… Menma asked me to break up with someone for him.”
Jiraiya stiffened.
“He never gave me her name,” Naruto continued. “But someone out there is waiting for him. And she doesn’t even know what happened.”
Jiraiya hesitated, then reached into his coat.
“I found this in Menma’s wallet,” he said softly. “He must have been carrying it for a reason.”
A folded slip of paper.
An address.
Naruto stared at it for a long moment. His hands shook as he unfolded it.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Jiraiya asked.
Naruto shook his head.
“No. This is… this is something I have to do.”
He stood. His legs felt heavy. His heart felt heavier.
He didn’t know the girl.
He didn’t know her story.
He didn’t know her name.
But she loved Menma.
And she deserved to know the truth.
Naruto walked the steps to the elegant condo, breath unsteady. He double-checked the address.
Number 910.
He raised a hand and knocked.
Light footsteps approached and finally the door opened.
A young woman stood there, pale, delicate, with long dark hair and large lavender eyes.
She tilted her head at his breathing.
“…Menma?” she whispered.
Naruto’s heart stopped.
He knew her face.
He knew her name.
He had never once imagined she had anything to do with Menma.
Hinata Hyūga.
The daughter of the Hyūga Conglomerate, one of the most powerful aristocratic families in the country.
And Hinata, though gentle in nature, is formidable in mind.
She is a brilliant lawyer — winning high-profile cases, championing human rights, and feared in the courtroom for her quiet, devastating logic.
And she was waiting for his brother.
Naruto’s throat constricted as he realized—
This was the woman Menma had cared about.
This was the one he wanted Naruto to break up with.
And now Naruto had to tell her the truth.
Everything inside him froze.
He had walked into something far more complicated than he could have imagined.