For a while, Ino showed up almost every day with a lunchbox in hand.
Sometimes she brought books, other times a "wrong size" new outfit supposedly bought by one of her older cousins in the Yamanaka clan. Naruto accepted them all without complaint.
With such sweet, ready-made meals practically being shoved into his mouth, he couldn't really refuse, now could he?
Still, Naruto never gave much of a response to Ino's enthusiasm. She was just a three- or four-year-old girl, after all. He'd never even dealt with a child that young before, let alone tried to charm one.
Just like that, an entire winter slipped by. Apart from some Hyūga kid named Rinto kicking the bucket, nothing much happened.
As spring began to bloom, Naruto finally ended his long and luxurious period of idling.
The moment the weather warmed up, he darted into the woods to start tree-walking training.
He hooked himself onto a tree branch using the Adamantine Sealing Chains brute-forcing his way through.
It took a whole morning, but eventually, he managed to walk a few steady steps.
Considering he was no longer affected by the Nine-Tails' chakra interference, his slow progress wasn't because of a lack of talent. The real issue? He just had too much chakra.
Climbing trees or walking on water boiled down to the same principle: channeling chakra to your feet to support your body weight.
For someone with little chakra, it's like pouring out half a bottle of water from a two-liter jug maybe not precise at first, but with some practice, it's doable.
But for Naruto right now, it was like trying to pour two ounces from a full ton of crude oil. One wrong twitch and he'd be spraying chakra everywhere like a broken faucet.
"You really are a hopeless idiot, brat…"
"You think you could do better?"
"Hmph. If I could get out, do you think I'd still be wasting my breath on you?"
Inside the seal, the Nine-Tails grumbled, clearly agitated today.
Cooped up all winter while Naruto did absolutely nothing it had nearly driven the beast insane.
After being locked away for so many years, its only entertainment came from observing the world through its Jinchūriki's eyes. And this brat? He'd stayed home almost nonstop for over three years. Finally ventured out a few times, and then winter hit and it was back to full-on hermit mode.
And Naruto's laziness wasn't even the normal kind. He literally did nothing. Laying there, one arm as a pillow, gnawing on dried meat, humming songs the fox couldn't understand, legs crossed for hours on end.
Torture.
Pure, unadulterated torture.
If the Konoha Torture & Interrogation Force got their hands on Naruto, they wouldn't need any tools. Just throw someone in a room with him for three days any prisoner would spill everything.
Sometimes the Nine-Tails even reflected on its own mindset. Maybe it had been too harsh. Maybe not all humans were so despicable. Naruto, at least, was… different.
He wasn't angry. He didn't hate. He wasn't jealous. He didn't even complain…
Of course, he also didn't move.
He had the vibe of someone who thought, Living is nice. Dying? That's fine too. But eh, not right now. Occasionally, he'd stir with a flicker of motivation usually when the food supplies ran low.
Naruto pulled out a strip of dried meat and bit into it, flopping onto the ground. His leg propped up naturally as he stared at the sky.
"I'll rest a bit. Train again this afternoon."
The Nine-Tails winced. Despite being a genderless entity, it somehow felt a sharp, inexplicable ache somewhere existential.
"I've never seen anyone as lazy as you! Are you really Minato's son?"
"No."
Inside the seal, Naruto lay in the same pose, eyes half-lidded.
"I don't recognize the kind of person who knowingly condemns their own child to misery just for the sake of some village. All that talk of trust and sacrifice, and then they go off to die, leaving a newborn behind to bear everything."
"If I didn't have my special ability, Kurama… you know exactly what kind of life I would've had, don't you?"
"You think those people would sell me food? The moment I needed help, they'd use it as an excuse to humiliate me. Spit on me. And if they did help, they'd act like they were saints doing me a favor."
"If I let that darkness consume me, they'd say: 'See? He really is the demon fox.'"
"But if I worked my ass off to gain their approval… I'd just look like some pathetic dog begging for scraps. Do I look like that kind of guy to you?"
"… You're surprisingly clear-eyed for someone so young."
Kurama snorted.
"But how do you know that bastard didn't plan for your special power too?"
"Because it's not some inherited bloodline technique. It's mine. Mine alone."
Naruto chuckled quietly.
"In that case, you really are pretty lucky… not just inheriting their jutsu, but even gaining my power."
The Nine-Tails nodded in agreement. Wood Release, Adamantine Chains, Flying Thunder God, Tailed Beast Chakra…
If this brat could master them all, he'd be a second coming of Hashirama Senju.
"No."
Naruto slowly lifted his eyelids.
"I meant they're the lucky ones."
The fox blinked, stunned for a moment. Then a crooked grin spread across its face.
"You damn brat… I'm starting to like you."
"Oh? Is that a compliment?"
"Ugh, disgusting. Don't flatter yourself, you've still got a long way to go…"
Noticing Naruto's smug grin, Kurama huffed and turned away, arms folded, radiating tsundere energy.
"Narutoooo!"
Ino's voice rang out in the distance. The little girl came running with a lunchbox in her arms, beaming with joy.
"I knew you'd be here! Finally decided to come outside again, huh?"
"Yeah. I've decided to start training. I'll be here a lot from now on."
Naruto accepted the lunchbox and dug in ravenously. After a whole morning of chakra control, he was starving.
Ino crouched beside him, resting her cheeks in her palms, watching him eat with sparkly eyes.
At this age, she still had short hair and none of the hyperactive energy she'd show later in the series. Instead, she carried herself with a cool, aloof demeanor like a tiny boss lady. Only around Naruto did she soften and act sweet.
"Are you training in ninja techniques?"
"Just a bit of chakra control," Naruto replied.
Once he mastered water-walking, he'd be able to use most jutsu except for a few high-level ones like the Rasengan or Flying Thunder God.
It wouldn't take long. Maybe three days, tops. And once he had a good grasp of chakra flow, he'd start cheating with Shadow Clones.
Even though he didn't have the Multi Shadow Clone variant yet, the basic version would still let him accelerate his training by 20 to 30 times.
After licking the lunchbox clean, Naruto walked to the riverbank, washed his hands, flicked off the water, and formed the hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Clouds of smoke exploded into the air, and a dozen Narutos appeared along the riverbank, leaving Ino utterly speechless.
"Amazing!" she gasped, clutching her chest. "You can make so many of them!"
Naruto shook his head slightly. This was his first time performing the technique, and honestly, he wasn't satisfied.
Too much chakra wasted, and the number of clones was still low.
For people with massive chakra reserves, it's actually possible to evolve the Shadow Clone Technique into the more advanced Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu at least according to the official lore.
If he hadn't spent the entire morning training, he probably would've created even fewer.
"Everyone find a tree and get to it!"
Naruto waved like a commander reviewing his troops.
"Sir, yes sir!"
The dozen clones scattered, each heading to a tree to begin practice.
Naruto joined in as well. If he didn't train alongside his clones, they'd definitely mutiny he knew himself too well.
Unlike the clones, though, Naruto focused on physical training.
Shadow Clones couldn't withstand heavy hits and weren't made of real flesh and blood, so they couldn't help build raw strength. At best, they could refine technique.
Thud!
He slammed his fist into a tree trunk. Pain shot up his knuckles. Shaking his hand, Naruto silently joined the tree-climbing brigade.