"Gu la la la! Naruto, see, you now have friends!" Whitebeard carried Murakumogiri on his shoulder, laughing heartily as he watched the three little figures walking ahead.
"Hello, I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
Naruto was visibly nervous.
"I'm Choji! Akimichi Choji!" Choji raised his chubby hand, his face full of admiration, "Naruto, you're amazing! It's the first time I've seen someone eat so much grilled meat."
"Huh?" Naruto was stunned. The other person's enthusiasm exceeded his expectations, and they didn't call him a demon fox.
In fact, Naruto had prepared himself.
He expected to be called a demon fox.
But…
That didn't happen.
Choji was naturally friendly, scratching his head and smiling. "I saw you eating grilled meat outside. You ate almost as much as I do. Isn't that impressive?"
"Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru introduced himself with a tired look, full of helplessness, "Nice to meet you."
His intuition told him… to stay away from trouble. He hated troublesome things the most.
A giant causing a huge stir in the village was the biggest trouble he could imagine.
However…
The giant blade behind him, reflecting the sunlight, was intimidating.
Shikamaru chose to be cautious.
"Gu la la la! Little pessimist, you don't seem too happy!" Whitebeard smirked, "Are you saying you don't want to be friends with my Naruto?"
"Naruto, let's be friends!" Shikamaru shuddered, suddenly becoming enthusiastic towards Naruto.
Sometimes, the smarter you are, the more you understand your situation.
And then your limits become flexible.
You adapt more easily.
"Huh? Really?"
Naruto was both surprised and delighted.
He was at a loss.
"Of course, it's true." Shikamaru forced a smile.
Naruto muttered weakly, "But, I'm the demon fox."
"No, no problem." Shikamaru's lips trembled.
He could feel a chill behind him.
Choji, however, noticed nothing.
He pulled some chips from his half-empty bag and offered them to Naruto with a sincere smile: "Since Shikamaru invited you to be friends, we're friends from now on!"
Hey! Just play along! Can't you see I'm trying to appease the giant?
Shikamaru's eyelid twitched.
He thought it was best to appease the giant and then avoid this street for a while.
But Choji's gesture.
Left Shikamaru bewildered.
"Hey? Why are you crying?" Shikamaru suddenly noticed another problem. Seeing tears streaming down Naruto's face, he sighed helplessly, "Can you please not cry? I hate seeing people cry."
"I'm just so happy!" Naruto sniffled, "I've never had a friend since I was a kid. The villagers don't want to come near me…"
"Even when I go to buy something, they don't let me in. If I sneak in, they chase me out."
Choji scratched his head, confused, "Didn't your parents do anything about it?"
Naruto lowered his head, "I didn't have parents before."
"Idiot Choji! Watch what you say!" Shikamaru glared at Choji, "Don't bring up painful topics!"
He looked at Naruto, a member of the Nara clan.
Even at the age of five, his high IQ of 200 allowed him to understand things discussed by the clan elders.
He had heard about Naruto from the elders and had a basic understanding of him.
Though not entirely clear.
He knew Naruto was the "demon fox," with a terrifying beast inside him. He knew Naruto's parents were heroes of Konoha who died because of an incident.
Shikamaru didn't know much.
But more than his peers.
"Hey! Stop crying, you look like a girl, it's annoying." Shikamaru turned away and pulled out something, handing it over.
Naruto looked at the handkerchief in front of him.
He glanced at Shikamaru, who had turned away.
"Wipe your tears and give it back to me, it's a birthday gift from my mom." Shikamaru said, "And don't use it to wipe your snot, only your tears."
"Okay, got it!!!"
...
Time passed.
As night fell, Naruto returned home. His house was small, unlike what one would expect from a hero's orphan. It was a very ordinary and even old one-room apartment.
The house was neat, not because Naruto wanted to clean it, but because Whitebeard forced him to.
As Whitebeard put it, if you can't even keep your place clean, how can you become a hokage?
So.
Last night, Naruto had tidied up the house.
After taking a bath, Naruto lay in bed, unable to sleep. He got up and ran to the window, looking down.
He saw his old man, Whitebeard, sitting on the main road, using the wall as a backrest, resting with his eyes closed.
Whitebeard seemed to sense something.
He opened his eyes.
His gaze shifted upward.
"Gu la la la! Foolish son, shouldn't you be sleeping? What's the matter?" Whitebeard had lived in worse environments, so sleeping on the main road was nothing.
"Thank you, old man!" Naruto grinned.
"Go to sleep, foolish son! You have to get up at five tomorrow for training. If you're late, I'll double your training!"
"Got it!"
Naruto happily jumped back into bed.
Today, he not only endured his old man's special training and felt stronger but also made two friends, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. He had also eaten a lot of grilled meat for the first time.
Naruto was very satisfied with today.
He realized his old man gave him things… the Hokage never did.
The Hokage never treated him to a grilled meat feast, never helped him make friends in the village, and always refused to teach him ninjutsu.
But Whitebeard…
Gave him all that!
"Is this what having a father feels like?" Naruto fell asleep, not noticing anything unusual outside, quickly snoring softly.
Outside.
Whitebeard clicked his tongue, standing up to close the window for his foolish son.
Then.
He turned to the darkness.
"Gu la la la! This village doesn't seem to welcome me! A bunch of little rats in the shadows, don't you know something called 'Kenbunshoku Haki'?"
With Kenbunshoku Haki.
Whitebeard easily detected the Root ninjas hiding in the dark!
They were nowhere to hide!
...
...