When Senju Haruto heard that Naruto wasn't afraid of the Nine-Tails, he felt deeply moved.
Only…
Naruto thought Haruto meant, You are you, the Nine-Tails is the Nine-Tails — why should I be afraid of you?
But in reality…
Why should I be afraid of someone I could crush with one hand?
Of course, Haruto didn't voice that thought. He was just trying his best to comfort Naruto.
"But… what have you been doing all this time?"
It took a while before Naruto finally calmed down. Then he remembered Haruto's earlier words: Aren't you curious what I've been up to lately?
Haruto didn't waste time explaining. Instead, he reached up, untied the forehead protector from around his head, and handed it to Naruto.
"This is…"
"A ninja headband. You can only receive one when you become a true shinobi."
As Haruto explained, he took the headband back from Naruto's hands and tied it securely around his arm.
"You… you're a ninja now?"
Naruto's eyes lit up instantly. He had never imagined that the next time he met Haruto, the other boy would already be a genin.
"Genin?"
Haruto couldn't help but chuckle. By the ranking system in Naruto, he was without question an elite jōnin.
If measured by pure combat ability, he was probably already at a level beyond the Kage themselves.
When Naruto heard that, he was completely stunned.
He never expected that in such a short span of time, Haruto had already become one of the village's elite jōnin.
"Not just an elite jōnin — it won't be long before I'm the Hokage."
"Seriously?"
Naruto's expression was pure disbelief.
He had always considered Haruto a rival since they both shared the dream of becoming Hokage. But in the blink of an eye, Haruto had left him so far behind.
"Haruto… you're amazing," Naruto said, gazing at him with open admiration.
"Am I?"
But Haruto hadn't come here to show off. Once he was sure Naruto's mood had steadied, he got straight to the point.
"There's something I have to tell you."
His smile vanished, replaced by a look of intense seriousness.
The sudden change startled Naruto.
"W-What is it?"
Without another word, Haruto activated his Sharingan.
When he had first awakened these eyes, he had also gained the abilities that came with them.
Genjutsu.
And right now, Naruto had no defenses against such illusions.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the hospital bed beneath him disappeared, and he found himself floating in midair.
A rush of tension swept through him, and he shouted Haruto's name in panic.
But when he looked around, Haruto was gone — and so was everything else he recognized.
"Where… is this?"
Tentatively, Naruto moved around, testing his surroundings.
He quickly realized that although this wasn't the hospital, it was still the Hidden Leaf Village.
In truth, this was a genjutsu world Haruto had created for him.
The scenes playing out came straight from Naruto episodes 466 to 468 — the night Uchiha Obito attacked the village, killed Hiruzen Sarutobi's wife, and tore the Nine-Tails from Kushina while she was giving birth to Naruto.
The images flashed rapidly before Naruto's eyes. He shouted, called warnings, desperately trying to alert the Fourth Hokage to the enemy's presence.
Only then did he realize that no one could see or hear him.
Even when he tried to rush forward and attack the masked man, he passed right through him as if he were a ghost.
He couldn't affect anything.
"Haruto? Where are you? What's going on here?"
Naruto's voice echoed in the empty air, but no answer came.
Suddenly, the Fourth Hokage launched a flawless surprise attack, snatching a crying newborn from the masked man's grasp.
"Phew…"
Naruto let out a breath of relief. But when he saw the masked man stick an explosive tag onto the baby, fury surged within him.
If he were that baby, he would have bitten the guy as hard as he could.
The scene shifted again.
After placing the baby somewhere safe, the Fourth Hokage engaged the masked man in a fierce battle.
But his opponent's techniques were strange — no matter what attack was used, it passed right through him.
The sight made Naruto anxious beyond words.
Eventually, though, the Hokage's sharp battle instincts prevailed. He caught the masked man's one moment of vulnerability and struck with a Rasengan, landing a heavy blow.
Wounded, the masked man retreated.
The vision changed once more.
The Fourth Hokage returned to the village, used his powerful space-time ninjutsu to transport the Nine-Tails to an uninhabited area, and erected a powerful barrier.
But even with his full strength on display, in the end… it wasn't enough.
The Nine-Tails' claw pierced through both him and his wife.
At that moment, Naruto felt as if something had stabbed straight through his heart.
A soul-deep pain spread through him, consuming everything.
"Am… I crying?"
His vision blurred.
To Naruto, the Fourth Hokage wasn't just the one who saved the village — he was a true hero.
So why… why did a hero's story have to end like this?
Not only did he watch the woman he loved die in his arms, but he wouldn't even get to see his own child grow up.
That baby… he would be so lonely in the future.
Naruto wanted to wipe away his tears, but no matter how often he brushed them aside, more kept flowing.
He could understand that baby's pain — because he had lived it himself.
He… had never met his parents either.
Even when he asked Grandpa Hiruzen, the old man would never tell him their names.
"Do you… want to see Naruto when he's grown up?"
Just as Naruto was about to break down completely, he heard that familiar name in his ear.
It was the Fourth Hokage, speaking softly to his wife.
His words carried infinite hope, and tenderness.
He could have survived — but he chose to give his wife one last chance to see their grown son, even at the cost of his own life.
That question — Do you want to see Naruto when he's grown up? — echoed endlessly in Naruto's heart.
Naruto… wasn't that his name?
He tried with all his strength to run toward that baby, to take one more look. But no matter how hard he pushed forward, it was like running in place.
The scene stretched farther and farther away, growing more and more blurred.
He blinked hard — and found himself back in the hospital bed.
Looking around, tears poured from his eyes like a broken dam.
"Haruto, what… what was that?"
"Why… why is the Fourth Hokage's son also named Naruto?"
Naruto lifted his head, unable to hold back his question.