Mom, I'm full. I'm going out to play!" Haruto said after finishing his lunch."Don't play too late," Asaka called after him."I'm going too!" Ino, seeing Haruto leave, quickly tried to follow. But before she could step out, Asaka pulled her back."Ino, remember we're learning flower arranging with your mother today," she said gently, but with firm conviction. "You'll need to become a proper lady one day if you ever want to get married."Ino pouted, her lips trembling slightly. "Woo…" she mumbled in reluctant agreement.
Haruto, determined to get away from his mother's controlling ways, made his way east to the best tailor shop in the village. He'd had enough of looking like every other kid. His plain clothes, not to mention the matching hairstyle his mom insisted on—black hair in a ponytail, just like his dad's—was getting on his nerves. He couldn't help but think, Blonde hair with a ponytail looks fine, but black? That just makes me look like Shikamaru… His mind wandered to the last time someone compared him to Shikamaru. "We grew up together, like twins!" they'd said. That remark still made him seethe with frustration.
"Hello, Auntie, Is my order ready?" Haruto called as he entered the shop. He looked up at the much taller woman. Whenever kids had to look up at someone, you knew it had to be one of the adults—poor Haruto, he was probably going to end up with a stiff neck.
"Oh, isn't this little Haruto?" the woman cooed. "Come here, let Auntie give you a hug! Your clothes are all ready, waiting for you to pick them up." With that, she swept Haruto into a hug. If you wanted to talk about the perks of being a child, this was definitely one of them—being able to get all the attention, even if it meant struggling to breathe under the woman's tight embrace.
When Haruto finally broke free, he took a good look at his new outfit—a white imperial robe. It was perfect. Modeled after the Fourth Hokage's iconic look, it made him feel like a hero already.
In the ninja world, there are still many kinds of clothes, though most of them are quite strange in design. More importantly, they're just not cool enough. Without a cape, the effectiveness of combat could be compromised.
After thinking it over, Haruto decided that the Fourth Hokage's style was the most handsome. It was sunny and vibrant, which suited his own cool image perfectly. That's why he chose the Hokage ceremonial robe.
At first, Haruto had thought the Hokage ceremonial robe was meant exclusively for the Hokage and that it would be taboo for anyone else to wear it. It wasn't until later that he realized the robes worn by the Hokage during official meetings were completely different from this one. One had no sleeves, one had a collar, and the other didn't.
For the sake of honoring the Fourth Hokage, Haruto also noticed that adults rarely wore white. But now that he had the clothes, it was time to focus on the next step—his hairstyle.
Haruto walked all the way to the most popular barber shop in the village. Why was it the most popular? Because the barbers there were all beautiful women.
"Beautiful sister, I want a haircut," Haruto said, flashing his most charming eyes—a tried-and-true magic weapon.
"Oh, isn't this little Haruto? Come give your sister a hug!"
Haruto, trapped in her embrace, struggled a little in a mix of pain and happiness. He had come all this way just for this moment.
"Sister, the hairstyle I want this time is different from before."
"Then what kind of hairstyle does our little Haruto want?" the beautiful woman said softly, preparing her tools.
Haruto pointed up at the four large faces in the sky and said, "I want that one."
"Ah, from the First Hokage, I see," the barber said, ready to start cutting.
"No, no, not that one!" Haruto's face turned green with fright.
"From the Third Hokage, then? I understand," she said, reaching for her scissors.
"No, it's from the Fourth Hokage, sister! Don't you have any sense of aesthetics?" Little Haruto was fuming now.
"Haha, sister can tell just by looking at your clothes! I'm just teasing you, kid!" The laughter from everyone in the barber shop echoed as they leaned forward and back in amusement.
Haruto felt both embarrassed and frustrated. He had been fooled by a little girl—someone who pretended to be a child every day and yet, with a twist, had him feeling like his own intelligence was slipping. Was he really becoming a child again?
After finishing his haircut, Haruto gazed at his new style with satisfaction. Sure enough, the Fourth Hokage's look was the most handsome. Although his hair wasn't blond and lacked the sunny glow, his black hair made him appear more elegant. Suddenly, he got a strange sense of danger and quickly turned around.
"So cute, let me give you a hug!""Let me hug you!""Me too!"
Haruto was once again caught in the struggle between pain and happiness. Aunt, please, I don't want a hug...! Don't come near me... Ah!
After finally escaping their clutches, Haruto walked down the street, searching for his little friends. If there was one thing Haruto had achieved during his four years in Konoha, it was that he had become the undisputed king of the children.
"Boss, you're here!" A group of kids, who had been playing ninja games, quickly saluted as Haruto approached. This was the result of his hard training."Don't call me boss from now on," Haruto said coolly, trying to sound serious.
A sudden silence filled the air.
It seemed his attempt at acting cool had failed, and his training of his subordinates wasn't quite up to par.
"From now on, you will call me Fourth Hokage-sama," Haruto declared, his voice full of passion.
"Yes, Fourth Hokage-sama!" they all responded in unison.
Haruto nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, today we're playing a game to recover the stolen forbidden jutsu."
As he spoke, Haruto casually pulled out three crumpled candy wrappers from his pocket and pointed to a few of the boys who were the fastest runners.
"Why is it always us?" a few of the kids muttered, clearly dissatisfied.
"Nonsense, wouldn't it be boring if others were caught? You have 30 seconds to escape—thirty, twenty-nine…"
With a whoosh, several people vanished in an instant. Haruto sighed: As expected of the ninja world, the speed of these kids can rival that of the adults in my previous life.
"Fourth Hokage-sama, you've found those traitorous ninjas! Taro has brought three Jonin to intercept them."
"Okay, I'll be there right away. Watch me—Flying Thunder God Jutsu!" If you only heard the lines, you'd think it was a fierce battle, but in reality, it was just a bunch of kids having fun.
"Catch me if you can, you won't stand a chance in front of me!"
"How is he so strong?!"
"I told you, you have no chance. You're too slow."
Haruto was enjoying the dramatic moment when suddenly he heard:
"Ryo, Kenji, your mother's calling you to come home for dinner."
"Oh, I'm heading back first."
"It's getting late, I should go back too."
"See you tomorrow."
In an instant, Haruto was the only one left on the field. "Hey, life is really lonely, just like snow."
Life is like a play, all about acting skills. If you don't show your love for Konoha and the Hokage, how can you be safely included in his circle by the Third Hokage? To be Hokage, one must have a solid foundation, Haruto thought to himself, lightly.
That evening, Haruto returned home.
"Hey, why is dinner so extravagant today?" Although the food at home was usually pretty good, today felt like a feast.
"Happy birthday, Haruto (brother)!" Inoichi, Asaka, and Ino said in unison.
"Hey? Is today my birthday? I forgot." Haruto said nonchalantly. I don't care about these little details, I'm thinking about bigger things.
"Hey? Haruto, you look so handsome in this outfit. Let mom give you a hug."
After a warm dinner, Inoichi called Haruto into the study. "Haruto, Dad knows you're a self-aware child. You've always been different. You've wanted to be a ninja since you were young, and you've even been training quietly on your own.
I've never given you the method to cultivate chakra before, and you know practicing chakra too early isn't good for the body. But now, I think it's time," he said, handing Haruto a scroll.
A long time ago, Haruto had wanted to practice chakra to become a ninja, but Inoichi had told him that starting chakra training too soon could cause huge damage to the body, affecting not just future strength but even lifespan.
Normally, children have to be at least six years old to start practicing chakra. Only families with secret medicine or techniques could start earlier. As for those famous geniuses, many of them sacrificed their future potential to meet wartime needs, focusing on immediate strength instead.
After instructing Haruto on cultivating his first chakra, Inoichi left and reminded him, "Remember, don't exhaust all the energy in your cells when cultivating chakra. Right now, your chakra level is too low to properly nourish your body. You must reserve a portion of your cell energy for normal development."
Once Inoichi left, Haruto's eyes sparkled with excitement. He had finally discovered the "golden finger" that had followed him through his time travel.