Naruto was darting from one rooftop to another, the wind blew past him as he rushed home through the stormy evening.
The downpour was relentless, soaking him from head to toe but at this point, he was already completely drenched, so what did it matter?
But He wasn't in a good mood today not after everything that had happened. He had learned too much in too little time.
His mind was full of chaotic thoughts, all swirling from the things he had discovered.
He needed time to digest it all, but life wasn't giving him a break.
"Stupid day," he muttered, not slowing down even a little. "Stupid village... stupid Hokage…"
He was so deep in thought, he barely noticed the rooftops beneath him. Which would have been fine, if not for the fact that the the continuous downpour had made the rooftops slippery.
He kept running briskly over the slick tiles without a second thought.
But his luck didn't last long.
His foot landed on a tile that immediately shifted under him. The tile slipped out of place, and his balance wobbled as his body tilted dangerously forward.
"Oh no—!"
Naruto tried to steady himself, but it was too late. He couldn't recover in time. His body slid, then plummeted straight down from the rooftop.
Mid-air, he twisted and flailed, trying to shift direction—but nothing worked.
He fell down like a guided missile straight at certain someone.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!"
And to his absolute horror, he realized where he was heading—and who he was heading straight for.
It was Sasuke.
And something felt terribly wrong about this trajectory.
Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha was enjoying his peaceful walk through the rain.
One hand held a paper bag full of groceries. The other held an umbrella, angled perfectly to keep the rain off his neatly styled hair.
Life had been peaceful lately.
With no annoying missions wasting his time, he'd been training day and night.
Kakashi had even given him a new ninjutsu, and he'd been practicing it like a madman.
He was feeling very satisfied with this kind of life. At this rate, he might be able to get stronger even faster.
But He heard something—a strange sound, like something falling from above.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!"
Sasuke blinked. "...That sounds familiar."
Curious, he tilted his umbrella to the side and looked up at the sky.
"What the—?"
The moment he looked up, he saw Naruto crashing down toward him like a meteor. He didn't even have time to move before impact.
BOOOOOOM!
Lips met.
Again.
Naruto had a mask on this time but that didn't help much.
They crashed into a puddle like a dropped sack of bricks.Sasuke's face was dark, furious.
Why was his luck this bad?
The moment they recovered, the two of them sat at the corner of the street, reeling in mutual disgust.
Sasuke had a haunted expression as the rain dripping off his bangs. "Why... why does this keep happening to me…?"
And seeing Naruto, his blood boiled even more.
"Naruto, you idiot! Why do I always end up kissing you?!"
Naruto looked at him with equal disgust. "Bastard, that's not my fault! I slipped down from above!"
"Isn't slipping down also your fault?" Sasuke snapped, glaring daggers at Naruto.
"It was an accident! The tile I was walking on slipped," Naruto protested.
" last one it was still your fault," Sasuke argued angrily, eyes flicking toward his groceries, now scattered everywhere, ruined beyond repair by this bastard.
Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration. He genuinely wanted to strangle Naruto right now.
He'd had enough of this nonsense.
"Ugh…"
But before the argument could escalate further, Naruto suddenly gasped—and clutched his stomach in agony.
Without warning, he dropped to one knee, pain flashing across his face. His breaths turned shallow and ragged.
Sasuke's anger evaporated in an instant.
"Oi...Naruto?" he said, stepping forward. "What's wrong?"
Naruto didn't answer. His eyes widened as a sharp, burning sensation tore through his abdomen.
He coughed violently, and a thin stream of blood trickled from his mouth. He felt something inside him shifting....vanishing.
"Huff… Huff… I'm fine," Naruto said, gasping for air.
But the pain was unbearable.
Somewhere else in Konoha…
In a dimly lit room behind layers of Root security, Danzō Shimura sat in silence, his lone eye narrowed, his expression stormy and cold.
Then a subtle pulse of chakra flickered through the space.
Danzo stiffened.
"…The Shadow Seal," he growled. "It's been disrupted."
His hand tightened on his cane.
"Damn you, Hiruzen. You must've released the seal after sensing my intentions."
He glanced to the side, noticing an ANBU now watching him closely...too closely.
The Shadow Seal was a secret jutsu developed by roots in secrecy after years of experimentation.
It was designed for total surveillance and suppression of its host.
The target wouldn't even sense it unless they used high-level external means.
The seal sent periodic chakra signals back to Root's sensor network, allowing Danzo to track Naruto's movements at all times.
If Naruto ever tried to flee the village, he'd be found instantly.
More than that, the seal could paralyze Naruto for brief moments or even flood him with intense pain to suppress the Nine-Tails, if necessary.
It was hidden under layers of chakra-masking fuinjutsu so advanced that even elite shinobi wouldn't be able to detect it.
And the cherry on top? It had all been done with Hiruzen's permission.
The Third Hokage had allowed Danzo to mark Naruto with the Shadow Seal as a secret failsafe.
It was meant to be used only in case of an emergency… but the years had passed without incident.
Now, Danzo's recent ambitions had apparently triggered the Hokage into action.
But that wasn't what truly enraged him.
What really infuriated Danzo… was that Naruto hadn't gone berserk.
Even with Naruto's limited intelligence, surely he must've realized he was a Jinchūriki by now. So why didn't he lose control?
Why didn't the Nine-Tails break loose?
Fuming, Danzo stood and marched straight toward the Hokage Tower, his cane tapping against the stone path.
He knew Hiruzen would summon him soon for one of his peaceful conversations.
Evening fell over Konoha, casting a soft orange glow across the rooftops as the storm clouds finally cleared.
Naruto was at his training ground, practicing shuriken throwing and target practice.
Shuriken whizzed through the air one after another, thudding into wooden targets with sharp precision.
After a while, he decided to try something new, something he had failed to understand before:
The Flying Thunder God Technique.
Now that he'd spent a lot of time reading in the library, he thought he might finally grasp some parts of it.
He had already amassed a good deal of theoretical knowledge.
This was his father's signature technique. He had to at least try to learn it.
By now, Naruto understood that his entire life had been carefully managed, not to protect him but to contain him.
From his living conditions to his education, friendships… everything was restricted by design
The Third Hokage allowed the villagers to mistreat Naruto not out of malice, but as a social cage.
Keeping Naruto emotionally isolated ensured he remained dependent on the village, always chasing recognition.
But at least the old man had done one good thing—he'd given Naruto the very jutsu his father was once renowned for.
Excited, Naruto began recalling all the theories related to it, piecing together what he could remember.
(－_－)
I take that back.
Naruto's expression darkened. He genuinely felt like he was scammed.
This wasn't the Flying Thunder God Technique—it was just a bunch of theoretical knowledge on spatial principles, mixed with some basic fuinjutsu.
He realized he had skipped the fuinjutsu basics before, thinking it'd be smarter to focus on theory first.
But damn.
Naruto cursed the Third Hokage multiple times in his head for deceiving him—again.
"Damn that old geezer."
Frustrated, he stormed out of his house. He needed to cool down.
He took off his mask before stepping outside. There was no point in hiding anymore.
He finally understood the reason behind their hatred—but none of it had ever been his fault.
The villagers had judged him without reason. And now, he was done caring. Even his last bit of hope in it had extinguished.
So, he headed to his favorite place to cool off
Ichiraku Ramen.
On the way, he felt it again those familiar gazes, the same kind he used to get before he started wearing the mask.
Naruto glanced at the villagers.
The moment they met his eyes, they looked away... in disgust.
Shaking his head, he kept walking, finally arriving at Ichiraku.
But when he stood in front of the ramen shop, he smiled.
It had changed. A lot.
The entire place had grown in size—almost ten times bigger than it used to be.
The once-small stand now looked like a full-on restaurant, fancy even, with a steady stream of customers going in and out.
"Ah, Naruto! You finally came! I've been waiting for you for days!"
Ayame's cheerful voice chimed from the side as Naruto turned toward her only to be momentarily blinded.
˖⁺‧₊⟡₊˚⊹
Too much light!
He instinctively shut his eyes for a second, squinting hard. When he finally got a proper look, he froze in place.
Ayame looked like she had just walked out of a gold mine. gold rings on every finger, a thick necklace around her neck, and even gold-rimmed glasses sparkling on her face.
Pffft!
Naruto burst out laughing on the spot.
"Sister Ayame, what are you wearing?!"
He was practically rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach.
The sight was too much for him. This wasn't the sweet, modest ramen sister he remembered.
"What are you saying, Naruto? Don't I look fabulous?" Ayame struck another dramatic pose, flipping her hair like a fashion icon.
"Pfffft—HAHAHAHA!" Naruto lost it again, pounding the ground with his fists. He wiped tears from his eyes, trying to catch his breath.
But then, a cold shiver ran down his spine
"Oh? You think it's funny, huh, Naruto?"
He slowly looked up at the now-blazing Ayame… and instantly felt a wave of terror.
"B-Big Sis Ayame, I was just joking!"
Naruto immediately folded, jumped up and bowed with panic, waving his hands in surrender.
"Hmph. That's better."
Ayame crossed her arms with a proud huff.
"Now come on, let me show you the new shop! We've done a lot of renovations these past few days."
Naruto blinked as he looked at the building.
'Renovations?'
It looked more like they'd rebuilt the entire thing from scratch.
Ayame led him around to the back entrance the front was already packed with customers and they entered the new Ichiraku Ramen.
The interior was bustling. Staff moved swiftly behind the counters, taking orders from multiple customers at once without missing a beat.
Even with the increased staff, the place still looked hectic.
"It's packed..." Naruto muttered, eyes wide.
Ayame grinned, puffing her chest with pride. "What do you know...our Ichiraku Ramen is finally famous in all of Konoha!"
Back when the shop was a tiny street-side stand, they did have regular customers.
But its location close to the Hokage's office and the shinobi training grounds meant it was mostly visited by ninja.
The common folk of Konoha rarely wandered near administrative areas.
And in a village with a clear class divide nobles, merchants, civilians, shinobi—a humble little ramen stand could easily get overlooked by the more status-conscious crowd.
But now?
Now it was a fully-fledged eatery, with polished floors, a wide dining area and decorative lanterns.
Of course, it was going to be famous with the kind of quality ramen they served, it was only a matter of time.