It wasn't until the sky had turned completely dark that Youchuan finally decided to head home.
During this time, both he and the sister who had always taken care of him were out on missions for the village, so he could come back at any hour without issue.
He made his way down the Hokage Rock along the dim yellow lights and the worn-out stone steps.
But just as he descended from the Hokage Rock and passed by a small food street, Youchuan ran into two unexpected people.
He spotted a little boy sitting on the shoulders of a taller boy, pointing excitedly at a shop selling dango with a huge grin on his face.
"Brother, I want to eat those dango!"
"Alright, Sasuke. I'll buy you whatever you want."
Youchuan had never met these two before, but from their ages and the obvious brotherly affection between them, he quickly figured out who they were.
Of course, the biggest clue was the prominent Uchiha Clan emblem on the back of the one being carried.
Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke.
At this point, though, the lines on Itachi's face weren't all that noticeable yet.
It seemed like he sensed Youchuan's gaze.
Uchiha Sasuke turned his head to look at Youchuan, who was staring at him and Itachi.
Maybe he felt a bit embarrassed about being caught acting all cute like that.
Sasuke quickly scrambled down from Itachi's shoulders.
Itachi clearly noticed something was off with his brother too.
When he saw Sasuke looking in a certain direction, he followed his gaze.
But all he could see was the stream of people passing by.
He had no idea what Sasuke was staring at.
Youchuan just found it kind of novel to see the main character from the anime in person for the first time.
And there was a bit of a contrast from what he remembered, so he couldn't help but take a closer look.
He kind of wished he could have snapped a photo of that moment just now.
Who knew what Sasuke would feel like years later, after the Uchiha Clan massacre, when he looked back on scenes like this?
"Oof!"
While Youchuan was lost in his wandering thoughts, he suddenly felt someone bump into him hard, and they both tumbled to the ground.
He staggered back a couple of steps from the impact.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Really, I'm so sorry!"
Youchuan hadn't even apologized yet, but the other person was already bowing repeatedly.
The voice was clear and childish. It was just a kid.
"I..."
Youchuan started to apologize too.
But when he got a look at the kid, the words caught in his throat.
On this short stretch of road, he was running into all sorts of people he'd never normally cross paths with today.
Right in front of him now was the boy who had just bumped into him and was bowing nonstop to apologize.
He had a head of spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes, and six whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
Youchuan couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Then he grabbed the kid's shoulders to stop him from bowing any more.
"It was my fault for not watching where I was going. This isn't on you!"
He had no idea if Naruto had been paying attention or not, but he definitely hadn't been.
After apologizing, Youchuan stepped forward and brushed the snow off Naruto's clothes from where he'd fallen.
But once Youchuan had helped him tidy up, Naruto just stood there staring at him in a daze.
Youchuan waved his hand in front of Naruto's face, which finally snapped him out of it.
But now, Naruto's eyes were starting to well up with tears.
"It's... it's the first time..."
Naruto stammered, but Youchuan didn't have time to figure out what he was trying to say.
Because the crowd was already starting to gather around them.
They were all whispering, but the malicious looks in their eyes were out in the open.
Youchuan was right in the middle of it too.
The stares made him feel uncomfortable.
Setting aside whether Naruto was the demon fox or not, the kid was just a child. There was no need to dump all that hate on a little boy.
These Konoha villagers really ought to thank Minato Namikaze for setting up such a strong seal back then.
Otherwise, who would dare to stand around gawking like this?
Youchuan's personality had a few flaws, sure.
But at heart, he was someone who liked helping out and couldn't stand seeing good people get picked on.
There wasn't much he could do about it, though.
He leaned in close to Naruto's ear.
"Ready? We're gonna run!"
"Huh?"
Naruto, still mumbling to himself, looked totally confused at the sudden words.
"Sometimes, it's okay to just run away."
"I, I..."
"Go!"
Before the crowd could fill the street, Youchuan grabbed Naruto and bolted right into the throng.
People scattered out of the way, afraid of getting any bad luck on them.
The scene turned chaotic in an instant, and the two of them vanished from sight.
"Th-thank you!"
As Youchuan pulled him along while they ran, Naruto let out a little yelp, his eyes sparkling.
"Running away isn't something to be ashamed of!"
"You don't have to live your life just to win their approval."
Out of nowhere, Youchuan said those words.
Maybe it was because he didn't really like Naruto's personality in the original story all that much.
"Huh? What... what do you mean?" Naruto was still trying to process it.
"Don't think of yourself as some big hero. Their approval doesn't mean anything to you...
You're not living off them anyway. What matters is being happy yourself."
"We'll meet again."
With that, Youchuan didn't wait for Naruto's response.
He let go of the grip on Naruto's clothes.
In a flash, he picked up speed and disappeared from Naruto's view.
In the midst of the chaotic crowd, Naruto started running as hard as he could too.
He wanted to catch up to Youchuan's back, but once he broke free from the people, the other boy was already gone.
...
After sprinting to an empty street, Youchuan finally let out a breath of relief.
"Today's been full of weird stuff."
"I hope I don't run into anything else."
But the moment that thought crossed his mind...
Youchuan suddenly heard a childish voice.
"Oi! You little brat!"
"Her eyes are white? That's so ugly!"
What a bunch of troublemaking kids.
Three boys were surrounding a little girl with white eyes who was wearing a scarf.
"Your eyes look so creepy."
"You're basically a monster."
"Are you some kind of white-eyed freak?"
They stared at her, laughing mockingly.
Hyuga Hinata was so scared that her whole body was shaking.
She froze in place, her little face pale as a ghost.
Her white eyes filled with tears, and her trembling hands clutched the scarf tightly.
"Hey, are you gonna cry already?"
"You're so useless."
"We haven't even touched you yet, and you're bawling."
The three boys showed no sympathy at all. If anything, they got even meaner.
Hinata covered her face and squatted down, sobbing.
But the boys had no intention of letting up.
Youchuan's mouth twitched slightly. He just had to stumble into this...
It suddenly hit him. Had he accidentally stolen Naruto's future love interest earlier?
Eh... whatever.