He had planned to do an intense morning workout, but because of the headband on his head, Kuro felt like new. He trained all morning without stopping, pushing his body to the limit until, exhausted, he collapsed onto the grass.
He looked at the sky, letting the breeze caress his face. His sweat-soaked clothes sent a chill through him, but he didn't care.
Suddenly, a new wave of energy surged through him, making him sit up abruptly.
"No, something's wrong with this thing," he said as he removed the headband from his head.
As soon as he did, his restless mind instantly calmed.
Kuro looked at the headband in his hand and couldn't help but show a wry smile.
He needed to come up with a proper training plan.
He couldn't just let the intensity fueled by the headband become a habit. If he allowed that uncontrollable drive to take over, he'd end up acting like a second Naruto.
He quickly shook his head, banishing that mental image.
That would be terrible.
So, this thing had to be used carefully.
As he pondered how to do so, a childish voice broke his thoughts.
"Hey, why are you here all alone?"
Kuro turned his head and saw a boy his age. He had blond hair and blue eyes, glasses resting on his forehead, and wore yellow clothes. Three marks on each cheek gave him an unmistakable look.
With that iconic "whisker" pattern and outfit, even someone who hadn't seen the Naruto anime would recognize him.
Although Kuro wasn't a big anime fan, he had watched it in his free time. He knew exactly who Naruto was.
In fact, this wasn't the first time he'd seen him. However, he had never tried to talk to him.
Naruto's identity was complicated, and Kuro knew that getting too close could attract the attention of certain people.
And that kind of attention was the last thing he wanted.
But now that Naruto had greeted him directly, the situation was different.
Kuro looked around, noting they were completely alone.
He pointed to himself in surprise: "Are you asking me?"
"Is there anyone else here besides you?"
Naruto looked at Kuro with a "are you dumb?" expression and stared at him for a while.
"...."
The reason this blond brat was excluded, besides the Nine-Tails, was also because of his personality!
That personality…
But Kuro quickly relaxed and shook his head: "I don't like being disturbed when I train, so I came here to practice in peace."
Naruto was stunned.
He hadn't expected a response, much less one without a look of disdain like everyone else.
A joyful expression appeared on his face as he asked, "Are you a student at the Ninja Academy?"
"No, I'm just preparing to become a ninja."
"But… don't the others always gather to play? Isn't it boring to train alone?"
"Alone…" Kuro touched his chest, then smiled faintly. "Of course, but because of that, I need to become stronger."
Naruto frowned, confused. Those words didn't make much sense to him.
Train alone to not be alone?
Kuro noticed Naruto's doubts and smiled gently: "During the Nine-Tails chaos four years ago, the village was destroyed, and many people died as a result. My parents were among them. If I had power, that kind of thing wouldn't happen again in the future."
Naruto froze.
His blue eyes widened as he looked at Kuro, trembling slightly.
The Nine-Tails chaos? Is that why everyone hates me? Is that why they call me the Demon Fox?
A torrent of thoughts flooded Naruto's mind upon hearing those words.
Unable to hold back, he grabbed Kuro's shoulders tightly and asked desperately.
"What do you mean by the Nine-Tails chaos?!"
The intensity in his voice was such that his expression seemed desperate.
Kuro reacted quickly. With a swift movement, he grabbed Naruto's wrist, twisted it, and pinned him to the ground.
"I don't know why you got so worked up about what I said, but this is something everyone in the village knows."
He released Naruto's wrist and stepped back.
Naruto, a bit calmer, moved his aching wrist while lowering his gaze.
"Sorry… I overreacted."
"It's fine."
"Then… can you tell me about the Nine-Tails chaos?"
"It's no secret. One night four years ago, a giant Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly appeared in the village. It destroyed much of Konoha and killed many people. Finally, the Fourth Hokage appeared and eliminated it."
"And after that?"
"After that?" Kuro looked at him curiously. "What would come next? That's where the story ends."
"…What?!"
"That's it?!"
Naruto was stunned.
He had hoped to find answers, to understand why everyone hated him, but Kuro's story explained nothing.
Had he become a substitute for the villagers' hatred?
"Anything else you want to ask?" Kuro asked suddenly.
Naruto snapped out of it. He looked at Kuro, whose face was almost the same age as his but whose expression was calm as water. "N-No, nothing else."
"Since there's no issue, I'll leave. I haven't had breakfast yet, even after all this morning's work!"
With that, Kuro said goodbye and left.
Naruto watched him go. He hesitated several times, wanting to say something, but stopped himself.
How could he explain?
He wanted to tell him how everyone in the village called him the Demon Fox, how the adults hated him, and the children avoided him.
He wanted to say that, even though Konoha was full of people, his world felt empty, as if only one person lived in it.
But he couldn't.
Because Kuro didn't look at him with disdain or exclude him like everyone else. Though not particularly warm, he also didn't reject him.
He didn't hate him.
Because of that, Naruto didn't dare to say those words.
Kuro had mentioned earlier that his parents also died in the Nine-Tails chaos. If he said that, Kuro would surely hate him like everyone else.
Then the only person in this village who looked at him normally, apart from the old man, would become like everyone else!
...
Hokage Mansion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi finished his work for the day and decided to relax by observing Naruto's daily life through his crystal ball.
He saw the encounter between Naruto and Kuro, heard their conversation, and watched the scene where Naruto reached out to Kuro, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
The old Hokage smoked his pipe, his eyes filled with complex emotions. After a long sigh, he turned off the image in the crystal ball.