"...Huh?"
Naruto blinked his eyes, dumbfounded. Currently, he was in a foreign office with his body tied by a rope.
"Haa... Naruto. What am I to do with you."
The old man wearing a white robe, Sarutobi Hiruzen, facepalmed.
'So this is Hokage.'
Meanwhile, Naruto immediately began to roll his brain.
'Breaking a wall isn't a small matter, but it shouldn't be to the extent where I was called to Hokage's office of all places.'
Furthermore, the Hokage or the ninja aside from him didn't really seem hostile.
It didn't take much for Naruto to realize,
"Are you my sugar daddy?"
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU LEARN THAT FROM?!!"
Soon after, Naruto had a huge, smoking bump on his head. Watching the comical outburst of Hiruzen, the ninja on the standby seemed surprised.
Calming down, Hiruzen spoke,
"This isn't the first time we've met, and yet, you speak as if you have no memory of me."
Naruto sighed inwardly. He knew that this matter was going to be brought up.
And frankly speaking, he wasn't necessarily trying to hide this truth. Ninjas probably have numerous methods to read his emotions and thoughts. The fact that he was quickly brought to this office also meant that they'd been monitoring him for a while.
Upon realizing this truth, Naruto was initially frightened. But nevertheless, he thought afterward of what would be the best response for him.
"Because I am."
This was his conclusion based on the information that he was given with. The best way to keep his utmost secret, which was the fact that he transmigrated, was to give a partial truth.
"Three days ago, I woke up in my room and couldn't remember anything. I could read, retain some common sense, and remember my name, but other than that, I had no clue where I was or what I was doing."
"Hm..."
Hiruzen hummed as his face darkened. He wondered if he was being far too careless, for he attributed Naruto's memory loss to the stress he was exposed to.
"...Let's start from the beginning then, shall we?"
Having a ninja from the Yamanaka clan look into Naruto's mind wasn't an available option, when there was the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi, lurking within him. Nonetheless, Hiruzen believed that there was no need for such an operation, for Naruto was someone whom the ANBU ninjas were assigned to monitor from afar. Though they couldn't hear what Naruto spoke, their eyes tracked Naruto 24/7, such that they knew that no suspicious activity was conducted on or by Naruto.
"I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third Hokage. At the moment, I am also your guardian and have been providing you the monthly allowances."
Stroking his beard, Hiruzen carefully thought of his next words as he looked at Naruto, who seemed to be in a thought of his own.
Hiruzen grimaced. He felt guilty leaving a child in such a vulnerable state. At the same time, he felt the lingering hatred in him, hatred to Kyuubi for taking his wife.
He felt conflicted. He knew that Naruto wasn't the cause. The ninjas knew that as well. However, human beings' mentality is quite fragile. The hatred slipped past their logical senses and reached Naruto anyway—perhaps out of fear that the seal in Naruto may be undone one day.
"Tell me Naruto, what do you think about this village? About the people?"
In the past, Hiruzen asked the same thing. And Naruto said,
"I don't know why they dislike me... I just want to be accepted, y'know."
However,
"..."
the current Naruto, raising an eyebrow, didn't respond immediately. Seemingly deeply in thought, he seemed to be thinking of how he should reply to the question.
In this process, Hiruzen saw Naruto's eyes undergoing a numerous mix of emotions. And between them, he saw—a flash of hatred.
Hiruzen found his face paling.
"...I don't know why they dislike me."
Eventually, Naruto spoke,
"Fine, if they don't like me, so be it. But seriously, let me at least get some proper food!!"
Hiruzen knew just how many curses Naruto swallowed just now, and he understood the danger that may arrive should Naruto be neglected to be treated the same way he's been treated up until now—especially after witnessing Naruto's ingenuity.
"...Will believe that there was a reason why I couldn't pay much attention to you?"
"...Yes, there probably was something different about me that made you approach my matter differently. But really,"
Naruto frowned as he let out his honest thought,
"All of them, in the end, are excuses. If you were going to have me grow up in this shit-hole-like state, you should've let me die in the first place."
Naruto sensed an opportunity. As Hiruzen closed his mouth shut upon hearing Naruto's strong diction, Naruto came to believe that he held a slight upper hand in this conversation, enough to make a few demands from his guardian.
"I don't ask for much, Hokage-sama. Just hire a household worker for me. I don't have all the time in this world to sneak into a grocery store, steal some ingredients, cook, wash dishes, clean up the house, do laundry—like holy hell. How do you expect me to do all these while attending the academy?"
"...It looks like you are aware of the fact that you are a student of the ninja academy."
"Heard it from two kids in the same class."
Hiruzen nodded, having heard the report a day ago. As he nodded, he thought about Naruto's request, for it sounded quite reasonable.
It was just that...
"Naruto. Do you know why you began to live alone in the first place?"
"No, Hokage-sama."
It was Naruto's time to reveal a genuine curiosity.
Hiruzen wondered if he should be saying this. Nonetheless, his mouth moved,
"You used to be in an orphanage. Then, there was an attempt to poison you. By one of the caretakers."
"...What?"
"Thankfully, you persisted. The caretaker is currently serving a sentence in jail, so there is no need for you to worry. But after that incident, I came to believe that the best way to protect you is to have you live alone."
"This is just..."
Things were getting ridiculous from Naruto's perspective.
Hiruzen had to avert his eyes as he saw Naruto's crestfallen expression. Filled with guilt, he said,
"...I will see what I can do about your request. Just know that... I'm doing my best to protect you, Naruto."
'...I don't know.'
Naruto felt that he was getting more and more detached from this village, not that he was attached to it in the first place.
__________
Watching the sunset with his black eyes was one kid with spiky black hair.
Wearing a hoodie that had the symbol of Uchiha clan engraved at the back, this kid's name was Uchiha Sasuke,
the lone survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
"Itachi..."
Growling the name Sasuke hated more than anything, he clenched his fists to gather his resolve. Then, relaxing his expression and gazing down, he grimaced.
Having woken up from his thoughts, Sasuke shifted his eyes to the right.
From afar, there was one blonde kid in an orange jumpsuit, lying on the patch of grass as he silently stared at the sunset like Sasuke's been doing.
'Uzumaki Naruto.'
Sasuke knew who the kid was. Naruto, the dead last of the class who was initially feared but eventually became the class's clown.
Something seemed different about him today.
And Naruto, feeling the stare on him, turned to stare back at Sasuke.
Out of bad mood, Naruto wrinkled up his face and spoke,
"What? You got something to say?"
For some reason, Naruto seemed different. He wasn't a kid trying to act goofy or hide his emotions.
"…"
Surprised, Sasuke turned away from Naruto.and just like that, the short-lived conversation ended.
And the time continued to pass. The bright sun, with half of it hidden beind the horizon, emanated the golden light.
Staring at the brilliant light that appeared the exact same as what Naruto saw in the previous world, he wondered,
'What now?'
Out of blue, he died. Out of blue, he transmigrated.
He had no time to think. Getting used to the new world of ninjas wasn't an easy thing, and it was still under the progress.
But nonetheless, as he laid his body and dozed off, many thoughts entered his mind.
Who was he? The kid named Uzumaki Naruto? The dead man back alive?
What was his goal? To survive?
…There was no trying to hide it.
Naruto was afraid. Everything around him was unknown to him. On top of that, most of the people around him seemed to hate him.
'Why did I transmigrate? If I died, why not just… let me be?'
However, even with these thoughts, Naruto couldn't dare to end this second chance give to him.
Ironically, his will to live remained strong. He didn't want to die again. It was this yearning to live that gave a rise to his fears.
'In the end…'
Naruto learned from days of experience that there was no one to trust but himself—at least for now.
If he desires to live the life of Uzumaki Naruto, really, there was only one option.
'Become the strongest and most skilled ninja.'
The manga named 'Naruto' was categorized as shonen. Naruto, being the main character, would've ubdoubtedly gotten stronger as the story progressed.
'I'll do just that—no, I will surpass the canon.'
This was the signal of the start of 'new' Naruto.
And surely, he wasn't the knucklehead with a warm heart.