Naruto appeared in a flash of lightning on the roof just above his room. The clay tiles crunched softly beneath his boots as the static energy crackled around him and faded into the air. His mask slithered off his face, revealing a quiet, tired expression. He took a deep breath, letting the cool breeze brush against his flushed cheeks, trying to calm the adrenaline still pumping through his veins.
His fingers drifted to the hitai-ate fastened snugly around his waist like a belt buckle. A small, proud smile tugged at his lips. He did it. He had achieved his freedom—his independence. He was officially a Genin now, just one step away from real missions and real choice. As long as they didn't dump him on a team with Duck Butt, he'd be fine.
Naruto chuckled to himself.
He already knew what came next: the Jonin test. He'd watched the chaos that was last year's graduation unfold from the academy rooftop. Let's just say... it left an impression. A full-grown man with an explosive bowl cut, green spandex, and orange leg warmers flipping through the air while fighting three terrified Genin? It was the stuff of nightmares. Especially when one of the students looked like a mini version of the guy, shouting about "the power of youth" like it was some kind of war cry. A shudder ran through Naruto just remembering it.
Shaking the image from his mind, Naruto centered himself with a quiet breath, then stepped off the roof and landed lightly in front of his room. The door was already open. Inside, Namori stood quietly, broom in hand, finishing the last bit of cleaning.
"Kaasan!" Naruto rushed into the room, worry flashing across his face. "You should be in bed, not cleaning my room!"
He reached out to take the broom from her, but she immediately thwacked him on the head with it.
"Stop coddling me, Naruto," she said firmly, though there was warmth in her voice. "I'm fine. The healer already came by and gave me medicine for my cold."
Naruto rubbed the sore spot on his head and hissed. "Ow. Alright, alright, I get it... but are you done? We're heading out."
Namori froze for a moment, her hands pausing mid-sweep. Her eyes widened slightly, then softened with something bittersweet. Naruto didn't miss the flicker of sadness that passed over her features. He had sensed it before he even got to the compound. Her chakra always hummed differently when she was upset.
She didn't want to leave.
Naruto hated that. Hated the thought that his decision to leave was hurting her—even if he knew staying here wasn't safe for either of them. Everyone in the clan looked down on her just for caring about him. She was an outcast, same as he was. Maybe even more so now.
"Kaasan," he said gently, stepping closer and taking her hand. He rubbed small circles on the back of it with his thumb. "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to. I'll come visit you as often as I can."
Namori leaned the broom against the wall and cupped his face in her palms, brushing her thumbs lightly across his cheeks.
"I won't lie and say I won't miss the clan," she said softly. "But there's nothing left here for me if you're gone. You're my little ball of sunshine—and you always will be."
A tear slipped from Naruto's eye before he could stop it.
Namori smiled and wiped it away with her thumb. "I'll follow you. Besides, I still have friends in the village. I won't be lonely in the apartment while you're off on missions."
Her smile turned playful. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
✨🟣🔵🟢🟡🔴🟠✨
After quickly clearing out both rooms and sealing their contents into storage scrolls, Naruto and Namori made their way through the Uzukaze compound. Curious whispers rippled around them like wind through leaves, but Naruto ignored them. No doubt the rumors were already spreading—about what he did to Hando, about the showdown with his so-called family.
The angry stares from the clan members bounced right off him. He didn't flinch. He didn't stop. He was done with their arrogance, done with their judgmental eyes. Let them choke on their pride.
But as they reached the compound gates, Naruto came to an abrupt halt. There they were—the people he wanted to avoid most of all.
Minato and Kushina strolled hand-in-hand, laughing as Menma strutted ahead, cracking jokes like he was the village's next big thing. Mito walked nearby, flanked by Ino and Sakura of all people. And, as expected, Jiraiya trailed along behind them, scribbling furiously in his perverted little notebook.
Naruto's jaw clenched.
They all stopped when they noticed him and Namori standing at the gate. The laughter died instantly. Naruto instinctively stepped in front of Namori, shielding her with his body. He didn't know how they'd react to her leaving the clan—but if they dared to try anything, he wouldn't hesitate. He would level the whole damn place.
"Be at ease, Naruto," came a calm voice. Vision appeared in a shimmer of light beside him, his presence like a cooling breeze in the tense heat. "There's no need for such drastic actions."
Naruto didn't look at him. His eyes stayed locked on the group ahead.
"It will be if they so much as touch her," he said, voice like steel.
Menma, ever the arrogant little prick, stepped forward with his usual swagger and sneered, "What are you doing here, clanless? Didn't you say you wanted nothing to do with us?"
Naruto tilted his head lazily and smirked. "Of course I don't want anything to do with you. But I had a few things to collect before leaving this shitty clan behind."
Menma's face turned scarlet. "You'll pay for disrespecting my clan! I'm going to be the clan head one day, and I won't let anyone talk like that!"
"Yeah, beat his ass, Menma!" Ino and Sakura chimed in.
Naruto let out a scoff. "And how exactly are you gonna make me pay? I've seen what you can do—and if you're the future of the Shinobi world, then we're screwed."
With a roar, Menma lunged at him, fist raised high. But in a blur of yellow, Minato appeared and caught his son's arm mid-swing.
"Enough! Both of you!" Minato snapped. "You're brothers—act like it!"
Naruto blinked... then burst out laughing. Not a chuckle. A full-blown, bent-over, clutching-his-sides laugh that echoed through the compound courtyard.
Tears welled in his eyes as he wheezed, "Brothers? Oh, that's rich."
Sakura's shrill voice broke through his fit. "What's so funny, baka?!"
Wiping his eyes, Naruto looked up, expression now stone cold. "The fact that he called us brothers. That's the funniest damn thing I've ever heard come out of his mouth." He turned toward Minato with a withering glare. "Menma's nothing to me. I consider him an irritant at best—a loudmouth with a brain the size of a pea."
Naruto's voice dropped to a growl. "I already told you, Minato. I don't care about you. Not after you decided my life was worth less than the dirt on your boot."
"Naruto!" Kushina snapped, storming forward. "That's enough out of you, young man! Show your father the respect he deserves!"
"The respect he deserves?" Naruto's voice turned frigid, his chakra flaring cold and oppressive. His eyes gleamed like twin shards of ice.
The shift was immediate. Ino and Sakura instinctively stepped back, their earlier confidence cracking as Naruto's Killing Intent rolled off him in heavy waves. Around them, a crowd began to gather. The quiet murmurs of villagers and clansmen filled the air, tension hanging like a storm cloud.
Naruto's voice cut through the hush. "I will never respect him."
He looked straight into Minato's stricken face, unflinching.
"Why should I? Why should I show even a shred of respect to the man who tossed away his oldest son like trash—who disowned me without hesitation, all because of the ramblings of a forty-year-old virgin with a notebook full of wet dreams?"
Jiraiya flinched, then awkwardly bounced toward the girls and came to a stop beside Menma, his expression both sheepish and defensive.
"Hey now, Gaki. No need to get personal. The prophecy is real! And just because your parents had to focus more on—"
"—on the 'chosen ones'?" Naruto cut in, scoffing. "Yeah, they focused, alright. So focused they forgot I existed. They shoved the responsibility of raising me onto someone else and called it love."
His gaze snapped back to Kushina.
"You want respect, Kushina?" he said, voice low and dangerous. "Maybe earn it before you start demanding it."
Silence blanketed the courtyard. His parents stood frozen. No retorts. No excuses. Just the truth hanging heavy in the air. But, of course, silence was never Menma's strong suit.
"Oh, please, you're just jealous that Mom and Dad spend time with us and not with you," Menma sneered, arms crossed. "Why would the clan want a disgrace as head when they've got the prophecy children?"
Naruto's eyes flicked to him—and to everyone's surprise, he nodded. "Of course, you're right," he said, voice soft.
The crowd blinked, confused. A wave of murmured "Huh?" rippled through them.
Menma's grin stretched wide, thinking he'd won.
"I was jealous of you," Naruto continued, his voice even, but trembling at the edges. "Jealous that you both had the love of our parents. I used to spend nights crying into my pillow, wondering what I did wrong—wondering why I wasn't good enough to be loved."
A soft hand touched his shoulder. Namori stood beside him, her eyes brimming with sorrow. Naruto looked at her, then slowly turned his gaze back to his parents. Kushina's eyes were glistening now, her lips trembling.
"And when I couldn't get your attention through good behavior," Naruto said, his voice louder now, "I started acting out. Pulling pranks. Causing trouble. I thought maybe if I was enough of a nuisance, you'd notice me."
He swallowed hard, voice cracking slightly.
"But that didn't work either. The only time you ever looked my way was when your guilt made you—when your conscience forced you. But even then, Menma and Mito still held all your love."
He took a shaky breath and clenched his fists.
"For years I tried to earn it. Begged for it with every stupid joke and every desperate stunt. And then... I finally realized—" he paused, voice dropping to a bitter whisper, "—that you had no love left to give me."
Naruto looked up at them now, eyes bright and unwavering. His voice was clear. Strong.
"So I stopped trying. I gave up. Because it's useless. I see that now. That's why I'm leaving the clan. You already disowned me—"
"We haven't," Kushina interrupted, shaking her head. "We haven't disowned you, son."
Naruto turned to her slowly, gaze sharp as a blade.
"Don't lie to me," he said coldly. "The moment you declared these two," he pointed at Menma and Mito, "as heirs to your respective clans, you told the entire village that I wasn't worthy. You erased me from our legacy. Even though I'm the eldest. Even though I'm your son too."
Kushina opened her mouth to respond, but no words came. Of course, that was when Jiraiya just had to butt in.
"Now, now, Naruto," the old pervert said, waving his notebook as if that would soothe things. "You're taking this too seriously. Your parents meant well. Naming both Jinchūriki as clan heads is a strategic move. It'll unite the clans and strengthen the village. You still have a place in the family. You could advise your siblings—"
Naruto gagged dramatically. "I'd rather offer myself up as a snack for the Nine-Tails before that happens."
Gasps broke out from the crowd. Even Jiraiya's smug smile faltered.
"Have you seen your so-called prophecy children?" Naruto spat. "One's a lazy ass who wants power handed to him on a silver platter, and the other spends more time stalking Sasuke's emo ass than training. She probably dreams of jumping his bones every night."
Mito's face turned beet red. "What did you just say?!"
"Oh, don't get all huffy," Naruto said. "It's not like it's a secret. Half the village knows she's obsessed with him. She might as well change her name to Uchiha Mito and be done with it."
Kushina's voice cracked behind him. "Naruto, please—"
But Naruto didn't stop. "You all made your choice," he said, voice cold and final. "Now I'm making mine."
He stepped beside Namori, placing a protective hand on her back as she stood quietly beside him, tears clinging to her lashes.
"The only person I see as a parent—the one who stood by me when no one else did—is right here," Naruto continued, his voice softening as he looked at Namori. "My mother."
The crowd fell silent.
Kushina's face crumpled as she reached out, her hand trembling. "Naruto—please—"
But he didn't give her the chance to touch him. In the next instant, Naruto and Namori vanished in a crackle of lightning, the scent of ozone lingering in the air.
The courtyard remained deathly quiet, the echoes of Naruto's words ringing louder than any shout ever could.