Stepping out of the alley, Naruto saw a boy sitting on another boy's shoulders, happily pointing at a shop selling dumplings.
"Big brother, I want to eat dumplings!"
"Alright, Sasuke, whatever you want, big brother will buy it for you."
"Heh~ Brother-obsessed! Heh~ Little brother-obsessed!"
Naruto coldly watched the Uchiha brothers, Itachi and Sasuke, walk toward the dumpling shop, their brotherly love on full display. She noticed that Itachi already had a forehead protector.
So, young Itachi didn't have those crow's feet around his eyes back then!
Seemingly sensing Naruto's gaze, Sasuke turned and looked at her, who was sizing him and Itachi up. For some reason, Sasuke stuck his tongue out at Naruto, making a silly face.
"This kid..."
Naruto's lips twitched, left speechless by Sasuke's sudden goofy behavior.
Back home, she stored the groceries in the fridge, lay down on the bed, and skillfully entered her inner world, finding Kurama's location. She curled up beside the Nine-Tails, eyes half-closed.
Kurama let out an annoyed hum but didn't shoo Naruto away.
"Kid, you've been here enough already!" Kurama suddenly spoke up.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Naruto rubbed against Kurama, slid off his fur, and ran to stand in front of him, looking up into his eyes.
"I'm saying, you should know it's because of me being inside you that you're treated this way. Stop coming to see me, kid!" Kurama propped his chin up, glaring impatiently at Naruto.
"It's got nothing to do with you, Kurama. After the tragedy, they just needed someone to blame."
"They want me to obey them but won't treat me right. The Will of Fire? It's a joke." Naruto looked up, a sarcastic smile on her young face.
"Are you saying Konoha deliberately made you the target of the villagers' hatred?" Kurama asked, intrigued.
"Exactly. To stabilize the people, they didn't need the hero's son who sealed the Nine-Tails. They needed a so-called Nine-Tails monster for everyone to hate. ☆☆"
"Kurama, in a few years, once I'm strong enough to leave Konoha, I'll set you free." Naruto's young face was filled with confidence as she balled her tiny fist.
"Hahaha! You're the first to promise me freedom. I'll be watching, Naruto!" Kurama paused, then laughed, extending a claw to tap Naruto's small fist. Red chakra rippled outward like waves.
"What… is this?"
Naruto could feel a new power within her. Since she'd never refined chakra before, her body shouldn't have any—this chakra could only be Kurama's.
"Why?"
"I don't want you dying before you keep your promise to me. Live, grow stronger, and fulfill it." Kurama smiled, sharp teeth bared.
Looking at Kurama's almost ferocious grin, Naruto felt no fear, only a warmth from within. Her heart, long frozen by Konoha's cruelty, began to thaw.
"Yeah, I won't die easily! If I do, it'll be because you ate me!"
Naruto nodded solemnly, her radiant smile lighting up the dark, damp space like a ray of sunshine.
This cold, damp place, like an underground sewer, was where Kurama resided.
At five years old, Naruto had grown taller, her messy golden hair the only unchanged feature. Her deep blue eyes were unfathomable, hiding her thoughts.
Naruto lay on Kurama's head, rolling around bored. Kurama's lips twitched in helplessness. Naruto lazily half-closed her eyes and patted his head.
"Kurama, do you know how to refine chakra?"
"At your age, refining chakra too early is harmful." As a tailed beast who'd lived for who knows how long, Kurama knew how humans refined chakra, but he didn't want to tell Naruto. With her malnourished body, only the Uzumaki bloodline kept her from collapsing into a hospital.
"I wish I could grow up faster!" Naruto lowered her head, her blue eyes instantly turning blood-red with vertical pupils. "I can't hold back the urge to kill those ignorant fools anymore! My idiot father used my body to protect them, and this is how they treat me!"
"I've been trying! Trying to suppress the urge to kill them!" Red chakra erupted from Naruto like a cloak, enveloping her.
Suddenly, Kurama's tail wrapped around Naruto, absorbing all the red chakra. Her eyes returned to normal, and she lay gasping on his head.
"Sorry, Kurama… I lost control…"
Kurama sighed like a mother figure. "You're influenced by my chakra, making you irritable. Naruto, control your emotions."
"If it were that easy." Naruto shrugged, sliding off Kurama's face and landing gracefully. "I don't know how to refine chakra. Right now, only your chakra is in me, making it even harder to control myself."
"I'll try to control it. Worst case, I'll tear off that stupid seal and set you free~!" Naruto tapped her chin, seemingly serious rather than joking.
"Wait, with my current body, I can't handle your power. That means I'd become a human nuke! BOOM!"
Naruto raised her hands excitedly. "If I did that, Konoha would be destroyed, right?"
"Then you'd die too, you idiot!" Kurama's stomach ached as he watched the inexplicably cheerful Naruto. He flicked her forehead, sending her bouncing like a rubber ball around the cell until she finally lay on the ground, eyes spinning.
"Naruto! Are you okay?"
Kurama extended a claw, his sharp nail gently tapping Naruto's stomach through her clothes.
"Hahaha! That tickles!"
Naruto laughed, clutching her stomach. She shook her dizzy head, sat up, and glared at Kurama, cheeks puffed out.
"Kurama, that was mean! I'm not talking to you!" With that, Naruto left without giving Kurama a chance to respond, leaving him with a stomachache.
"Naruto! Naruto!" Watching Naruto sleep like a log, Kakashi, now retired from the ANBU, resisted the urge to splash water on her.
"Ugh~!" Naruto groggily sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and looked at the white-haired former ANBU, Kakashi.
"What's up?"
"Here's your enrollment for the Academy. Starting tomorrow, you'll attend ninja school." Kakashi placed the completed paperwork on the table.
"Heh~!" Naruto smirked sarcastically. "Letting a monster like me attend the Academy? Are they sure about that?"
"It's the Hokage's order."
"The Third… I see."
Naruto had met the Third Hokage. If not for the deep apology in his eyes, she would've resented him. Even in the original story, the Third was a decent man, but that didn't change his failure to keep his promise to Minato.
Naruto wasn't foolish. Only by aligning herself with the Third could she avoid Danzo's interference and prevent being brainwashed into an obedient jinchūriki.
The next day, at the Academy, thanks to the Hokage's order, even those with ill intentions toward Naruto couldn't openly show their malice.
Naruto was assigned, unsurprisingly, to Iruka's class.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you." After a brief introduction, Naruto looked at Iruka. "Sensei, where should I sit?"
"Ah… um, sit next to Sasuke." Iruka was caught off guard by Naruto's brevity. After a brief pause, he assigned her the seat next to Uchiha Sasuke.
Following the boy-girl seating arrangement, Iruka's decision wasn't wrong, though it differed from Naruto's memory.
Naruto nodded and walked over, wondering internally. In the original story, Naruto should've sat with some background character, right? Why am I sitting with Sasuke now?
Whatever. It doesn't matter who I sit with.
I need to focus on learning how to refine chakra before I lose control again.
"Hello."
Naruto greeted Sasuke and sat down, staying silent as she watched the other students introduce themselves, paying no extra attention to the young Uchiha heir.