"Hi, can I sit next to you?" The protagonist of Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, came over to Kaito, somewhat nervous.
"Sure, I just got here myself, and I think no one's taken the spot next to me." Kaito looked at Naruto and said calmly, with no particular emotional reaction.
"Great!" Naruto was visibly thrilled when Kaito agreed, and he quickly took a seat beside him.
Kaito and Naruto had technically "met" before. After Kaito realized that he had crossed over into the world of Naruto, he grew curious about this world's protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki. In his wandering, he had purposefully sought him out.
However, Kaito's goal at that time was merely to observe Naruto from a distance. He had no intention of befriending him. After all, Naruto was the Jinchuriki, constantly under Anbu surveillance. Approaching him as an ordinary person wouldn't benefit Kaito and might even come with risks.
Additionally, there was a chance that it might catch the attention of not only the Third Hokage but also Danzo. The Third Hokage might not mind after a basic investigation, but Danzo would probably take note. Given Danzo's status, even a trivial action could be disastrous for Kaito.
Another concern was social ostracization. Approaching someone viewed as a "monster" would likely lead to the villagers rejecting Xia Li as well.
Thus, when Kaito first saw Naruto, he simply watched from afar, listening to the people around him mutter about "the monster" and observing the cold stares. Even from a distance, Kaito felt suffocated by the atmosphere.
If he switched places with Naruto, even with two lifetimes of experience, Kaito doubted he could avoid some kind of mental breakdown. It would be akin to Gaara's experience in the early story...
No, actually, Gaara was weak when he was a child and too young to comprehend everything, so he couldn't react. If Kaito were in his shoes, he might take a more extreme approach—undoubtedly plotting to use the Nine-Tails to take revenge.
"You call me a monster, right? Then I'll work hard to truly become one, and when I'm strong enough, I'll show you what a real monster looks like!"
Kaito and Naruto formally met later. Naruto had tried to buy food with extra money, only to be thrown out of the store, his coins tossed to the ground and stomped upon.
Seeing this scene and hearing the laughter around them, Kaito couldn't stand it anymore. Though he didn't stand up for Naruto, he did use his own money to buy the food Naruto had wanted, then approached him when no one else was around.
"Is this what you wanted to buy?" Kaito had asked.
"Y-yes." Kaito still remembered Naruto's stammering reply.
Kaito handed the food to Naruto, who widened his eyes in disbelief. After a long pause, Naruto frantically used the clean parts of his clothing to wipe the now-dirty coins before nervously handing them to Kaito.
Kaito ended up counting the money and took more than what the food was worth, leaving with a satisfied expression as if he'd made a profit. Truthfully, Kaito didn't care about the money; he just wanted an excuse to make the exchange. Helping Naruto without appearing too friendly was important to Kaito, though even doing this much was impulsive.
It was already tough enough to see that scene in the anime; witnessing it firsthand in reality made Kaito feel suffocated. He knew he had to do something, but even offering help required finding an indirect way to do so. That's why he came up with the idea of "taking" Naruto's money, assuming that Naruto might not have been able to spend it otherwise. To outsiders, it just looked like Kaito wanted to make a profit.
As for becoming true friends with Naruto, Kaito had to consider his own safety. If he were alone in the world, maybe he could take a risk, but he wasn't alone.
Naruto, of course, didn't know all this. He wasn't bothered about the money; this was the first time he felt like someone didn't treat him coldly, and it filled him with a new hope.
Later, one day, they met again in the village. Naruto's eyes instantly locked onto Kaito, lighting up with joy. As Kaito looked at him with resignation, Naruto initially moved to approach him but then stopped.
Naruto had felt the gazes of those around him even before getting close to Kaito. In that moment, Naruto understood that approaching Kaito would probably bring trouble to him, just like before, when people wouldn't let anyone play with him.
In the end, Naruto merely passed by Kaito, disappointed. Kaito let out a sigh of relief and faced no repercussions for that encounter. After that day, Naruto never proactively sought Kaito out again.
Kaito felt a mixture of emotions about this. What a good kid Naruto was—in such dire circumstances, and he still thought about others...
Back in the present, Kaito looked at Naruto beside him. Naruto must have decided to approach because there were no adults around. Children were simpler—they just didn't play with Naruto because the adults told them not to. They might repeat that Naruto was a monster, but most of them didn't even know what a monster really was.
To Naruto, the malice of adults was much more real and much more frightening than that of other kids. At school, perhaps he could finally get close to someone who bore no ill will toward him.
Thinking about Naruto's personality in the future, Kaito sighed. How did Naruto end up with that personality? With the Nine-Tails inside and constant malice outside, it would be far stranger if he didn't develop issues, like how Gaara did early on.
Kaito sighed again. He could only assume it was due to Ashura's influence. Otherwise, it was hard for him to make sense of it.
But this answer made Kaito uneasy. The idea of a preordained personality was terrifying in itself.
"I hope it's not as I imagine it," Kaito thought to himself. "Otherwise, it's just too sad."
After a while, a young man with a scar across the bridge of his nose finally walked into the classroom, slightly late. He stood on the platform and cleared his throat.
However, the classroom was still noisy and chaotic, with no one paying much attention. It wasn't like the old days of war anymore—the academy students were much less disciplined now.
Kaito looked up at the teacher. He was familiar with this man—Naruto's first teacher, Iruka. If he remembered correctly, his name was Iruka Umino, a Chūnin.
Iruka's parents had also died during the Nine-Tails attack, and he struggled at first with how to treat Naruto. But eventually, he was moved by Naruto's persistence and came to accept him.
All in all, Iruka was a great and caring teacher. Since Kaito roughly knew his personality, he planned to make good use of the student-teacher relationship and learn as much as he could from him.
"I'm Iruka Umino, and I will be your teacher from now on. You can call me Teacher Iruka. I'll start by taking roll. When I call your name, please stand up and introduce yourself. I'll go first as an example."
"Umino Iruka. Favorite food: Ichiraku Ramen. Likes: People who are positive and hardworking. No dislikes at the moment. Least favorite food: Mixed rice bowls. Future goal: To become an excellent teacher and nurture generation after generation of great students."
After introducing himself, Iruka picked up the list and started roll call.
"Nara Shikamaru..."
"Akimichi Choji..."
"Yamanaka Ino..."
"Haruno Sakura..."
Kaito heard some unfamiliar names, and some familiar ones, until Iruka called out Haruno Sakura. At that moment, Kaito's expression became a bit complicated.
According to his plan, he could only apologize to Haruno Sakura.