Just the shadow of a monster, that's how everyone looked at him. The nine-tailed fox, the great legendary beast that was about to destroy Konohagakure five years ago, was sealed inside him, but sadly, not even he knew what was hiding inside himself.
A boy with golden hair, blue eyes like the sky and whiskers like a cat's, was walking with his eyes on the ground, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Even if he hadn't done anything to upset the villagers, some looked at him with contempt, others looked at him with fear, and those who remained preferred not to get involved, ignoring the boy completely.
He felt alone in the crowd, he had no father, no mother and much less siblings, he was just an unfortunate child who had to live alone.
His steps were slow, full of discouragement. He couldn't think of anything other than being despised by everyone, he couldn't stop thinking about the hateful looks he received from everyone around him. For him, the whole world was against him, no matter how he saw it, there was no one around him who treated him well. And as he tried not to look anyone in the eye, his gaze became engrossed in one place, a mask shop.
There were different kinds of masks, some were rabbit masks, some had a dragon face, but the one that stole the boy's attention was a fox mask. The mask was white with pink details, it had triangle-shaped ears with round tips and perfectly painted whiskers.
The boy looked at the mask with a small smile, he wanted that mask, but he didn't have enough money to buy it, the only thing he could do was watch in silence, but standing in front of the store looking without saying anything made the store owner come out
"Brat! Get out of here! You're making me lose customers!"
The boy didn't know what to do, he just watched as the store owner tried to make him leave. The man's screams made the boy afraid to be there, but that fear made him unable to move his legs to leave.
"You want this? Then take it and get out!"
The man took the fox mask from the shelf and threw it at the boy's face. The boy covered his face with his arms so that the mask would not hurt his face, by doing this the mask fell to the ground, and people began to gather around it.
"Isn't that…Naruto?"
"That brat"
"They should lock him up so he doesn't cause trouble for others"
People started talking, making Naruto feel intimidated. He just looked at the ground, waiting for people to leave, but, even though a few minutes had passed, no one left. Everyone kept throwing words of contempt at Naruto, words that hurt his feelings more and more.
But that ended when someone picked up the mask from the ground. He had black hair, bright gray eyes, a red scarf, and a sleepy-eyed face. He was barely a child, possibly the same age as Naruto, so this action made everyone fall silent.
"How much for the mask?"
The grey-eyed boy looked at the shop owner as he asked. The owner just fell silent, not knowing what to say.
"I will pay double, just tell me the price"
The boy insisted on buying the mask. His expression was so neutral that it was difficult to know what he was thinking, that was something that made the decision difficult for the seller, he just didn't know why that boy wanted to buy something that he was practically going to throw away.
"The mask costs a hundred ryo"
The seller gave up and mentioned the price. Obviously a hundred ryo was too much for a six year old, just mentioning the price would make any child's jaw drop.
"So it will be two hundred ryo"
The grey-eyed boy said as he tried to pull some bills and coins out of his pocket. He stopped for a few seconds to count the money and after that he threw it in the seller's face. The store owner covered his face with his arms so the coins wouldn't hurt him.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, brat?!
The boy looked into the seller's eyes and answered.
"The same thing you did with him"
The boy looked at Naruto who was still frozen in place. It could be said that the seller could not answer the gray-eyed boy's arguments, so he better keep quiet and return to his store.
"Here you have"
The gray eyed boy extended his hand in which he had the mask and handed it to Naruto. At this the mustachioed boy was surprised, he had never received anything from someone before, what's more, he thought he would never receive anything from someone.
"But... you bought it. This is yours"
The grey-eyed boy was silent for a few seconds, he was thinking of some good words to reply, but nothing came to mind, since he normally didn't talk to anyone, so his social skills were a disaster.
"Now it's yours"
"What? Really?"
The boy saw the happiness reflected in Naruto's face, the simple fact of having given away two hundred ryo made him feel a little uncomfortable, what's more, he didn't even know why he had bought the mask, much less why he gave it away. It could have been one of his momentary whims, or simply because he felt sorry for Naruto, but despite all those thoughts the grey-eyed boy stuck to his decision.
"Then I'm going, I have things to do"
Naruto looked at the boy walking away from the place, and could see that on the back of the gray-eyed boy's sweater there was a strange print that resembled the figure of the sun rising over the horizon.
"Where have I seen that emblem before?"
Naruto tried to remember where he had seen the sun emblem that was on the grey-eyed boy's sweater, but unfortunately he can't remember anything.
"Seriously, what a weird kid"
-Shi no Mori [Forest of Death]-
In the depths of the forest of death located on the outskirts of Konohagakure, in a very poorly built cabin was he, Asahi Toru. It was completely surrounded by scrolls and metal pieces.
"If I connect these circuits..."
Toru took a red cable in his hands and looked at it carefully, the cable seemed to be a bit worn from continuous use.
"I'll have to buy more..."
Toru looked at the roof of the cabin, it had a few leaks and some burn marks, it seemed that the cabin had resisted many of the experiments that Toru used to do. Something impressive was that the cabin had managed to withstand the strong explosions that were caused by tests with electricity and homemade weapons that Toru himself designed.
You could also see the bandages that Toru had on his arms, something that showed that despite taking the necessary security measures, he could get hurt.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
A voice was heard just outside the cabin. Toru heard the voice clearly, but he didn't do anything, he just kept silent and waited.
A few seconds passed, when Toru could see a blond-haired boy enter the cabin, Toru could recognize the boy's whiskers and blue eyes just by looking at them for a second.
"Why are you here?"
Toru asked in a relaxed voice, something that startled the blond-haired boy.
"Eh...? I...well...I...I just wanted to give this back to you"
The boy held a fox mask in his hands, something that made Toru remember the boy's name. So, coming out of his hiding place and showing himself to the Toru boy, he said:
"You were Naruto, weren't you? I think I said clearly that it wasn't necessary to return the mask or the money. Now it belongs to you, if you don't want it just throw it away"
Naruto looked at Toru with a disappointed face, he was hoping to talk to him, he wanted to ask him why he was so nice, and why he didn't treat him with contempt. From the bottom of his heart he felt that he should repay the kindness that was bestowed on him, so he couldn't help but search for Toru.
"But I can't accept the mask, you spent a lot of money on it, I don't want to owe anyone anything"
"I told you before, you don't owe me anything. So, you better go home, your parents must be worried"
Toru looked Naruto in the eye, he tried to be nice to get Naruto to leave the cabin, but it didn't work.
"I... I don't have parents. I live alone, so no one is waiting for me, no one will be worried about me"
Toru looked at the sad face that was reflected in Naruto, he couldn't understand why he felt so much empathy for the blond-haired boy. He didn't know if it was a whim, or if he really felt sorry for Naruto, even the fact of feeling identified with him made Toru feel uncomfortable. So an idea popped into his head, an idea that would benefit them both.
"Then if you want to pay for the mask you will have to help me with my research. It will be a week, two hundred ryo is a lot after all."
Toru watched as the sadness on Naruto's face instantly vanished, it could be said that it was too easy to control, but this was great for Toru, after all he had gotten an assistant to help him for a week.
"Can I really help you?"
Naruto seemed not to believe what they had proposed to him, they always saw him as a nuisance, and the fact of being needed by someone made joy well up in his heart.
"It'll only be for a week, so do your best. If I see you're useless I'll kick you out of my lab"
Naruto listened to Toru's words with a smile on his face, so with a noticeable happiness in his voice, Naruto said:
"So, I hope we can get along. But... Laboratory? This is just an old cabin."
"It is, but it's also my laboratory. Here I do my research regarding electrical mechanisms. In the not too distant future I plan to design a weapon that I can use when I become a shinobi"
"Er...sorry. I couldn't understand half of what you said, but...do you want to be a shinobi too?"
"Also? Do you aspire to be a shinobi?"
"Yes, one day... I will become Hokage and make everyone respect me. It's a goal I plan to achieve"
For a moment Toru was interested in Naruto's ideals, but his interest was lost when he realized that all the children in the village want to be Hokage or recognized shinobi. But the reason for his momentary interest was the way Naruto said that he would be Hokage, his eyes said that he was sure that one day he would achieve his dream.
"Hokage huh"
"And you, don't you have a dream you want to fulfill?"
"A dream...?"
Toru looked at the scrolls on the ground as he tried to think of something, he wasn't sure what his life would be like in the future, but if he had to choose...
"My dream would be to discover something impressive, something that no one else has seen"
The neutral look in Toru's eyes gave Naruto a sense of danger, a strange sense of inferiority welling up from deep within his heart.
-A week later-
The days passed quickly in Konohagakure, so much so that it seemed that a week passed in just a second. In that week, Toru's investigation did not advance at all, since Naruto was an impediment in the progress of the investigation.
Every time Toru made a little progress, Naruto ended up messing everything up one way or another. But in spite of everything Toru didn't expel Naruto from his laboratory, what's more, every time his research was ruined he felt excited to know what would happen in the next attempt.
"It has changed a lot"
Toru watched Naruto from the shadows. For the time that had passed, Naruto's way of being had changed drastically. He had become more rambunctious, speaking his mind without caring what others say, and ignoring anyone who looked at him with contempt.
"Despite not having parents, he has managed to survive. It's impressive, but still... he's just a kid looking for the attention he never got from the parents he never had."
Toru looked over at Naruto, who was currently running away from a shinobi who was chasing him for painting doodles on the walls of the Hokage's house.
"Someday... I hope I can see how you become Hokage, but something like that can never happen, because dreams will always be that, only dreams"