"Next—Uzumaki Naruto…"
Hearing his name, Naruto rose slowly from the last row. With a sideways glance, he surveyed his classmates—there were only a few left. Many had already finished and gone.
He stepped into the exam room next door. The proctors were familiar faces: Iruka Umino and Mizuki, both of them his instructors.
"The test is the Clone Jutsu. Begin."
Iruka looked at the boy not far away, a complicated mix of feelings rising in his chest.
They were both children who had endured hardship. Iruka understood Naruto's pain better than most. And he also understood why the villagers had "treated" a child this way—because for a long time, Iruka himself had once blamed his parents' deaths on that very child.
But he understood something even more clearly now:
The Nine-Tails is the Nine-Tails.
Uzumaki Naruto is Uzumaki Naruto.
What he taught was Uzumaki Naruto—an innocent child.
To be honest, Iruka had worried before that Naruto wouldn't be able to withstand that suffocating rejection. Putting himself in Naruto's shoes… even as an adult, Iruka wasn't sure he could have endured it.
But Naruto's growth had completely surpassed his expectations.
Like a flower blooming in bitter cold, the harshness of his environment seemed to become nourishment instead.
Mature. Steady. Unyielding. Kind to others…
Words meant for adults didn't feel out of place on this child at all.
Of course, there was one small flaw—his ability to express himself with words seemed… a little underdeveloped.
But whenever Iruka thought about the life Naruto had lived, all he could do was sigh.
"Are you ready, Sensei?" Naruto asked again.
Iruka was the only teacher who didn't treat him with prejudice, and Naruto respected him. But zoning out during an exam… that was hard to justify, no matter how you looked at it.
"Hm?!" Iruka snapped back to himself.
Then he looked up—only to see two Narutos standing there, perfectly identical.
"…Not bad. You pass."
He cleared his throat twice and nodded.
"Come and receive your forehead protector."
Iruka stood, walked over, and personally tied the Konoha forehead protector around Naruto's head. Looking at the tall boy in front of him, he nodded with clear satisfaction.
"Naruto… you've grown up."
Naruto stared at the warm, sunlit smile on Iruka's face. His lips parted as if he wanted to say more, but in the end, he could only dig two words out of a near-dried-up vocabulary.
"…Thank you."
"From now on, you're a ninja who can stand on your own. Go."
Iruka patted his shoulder.
After Naruto left, Iruka's gaze still hadn't withdrawn. Mizuki coughed lightly, reminding him:
"Iruka-sensei… should we continue the examinations?"
"O-Oh! Sorry about that, Mizuki-sensei." Iruka laughed awkwardly.
"It's fine. You seem quite fond of that kid." Mizuki smiled. "Out of everyone, you're the only one who personally put the forehead protector on him. His grades are good, sure, but he wasn't exactly the top student, was he?"
"Maybe it's because… I was an orphan too," Iruka said softly. "I understand him better."
"As expected of our outstanding teacher."
"You flatter me. Call the next student in."
"Next—"
...
By the time Naruto returned to his small apartment, it was already noon.
He threw together something simple to eat, then sat cross-legged on his bed and began his daily required practice—meditation.
Meditation was a habit from his previous life.
As a shinobi, you had to maintain absolute focus at all times. One mistake could mean total defeat. Meditation sharpened his mind and kept his thoughts clear and alert.
Drip.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a dim, oppressive sewer tunnel.
I'm here again.
Aside from the first time—when the shock had still been fresh—Naruto was practically familiar with this place now.
For example: take a few more steps forward, turn left, and he'd see a towering iron gate.
Behind it, the Nine-Tails would usually slam the bars the moment it saw him and roar:
"Brat! Come here—let me tear you into pieces!"
The kind of thing that could keep a child awake for nights.
Of course, sometimes it wasn't the same routine.
Like now.
Naruto slapped the iron bars and shouted at the massive fox resting inside:
"At your age, how can you still sleep like that?"
BAM!
The Nine-Tails smashed its claw into the gate. Out of all the Jinchūriki it had ever had, it had to admit—
This one disgusted it the most.
"Brat—believe it or not, I'll tear you into pieces!"
"Hah! Small skills, big mouth!" Naruto grinned. For some reason, whenever he faced this fox, his tongue got especially sharp.
"Today, I'm standing right here. If you can lay even a single claw on me—then I'll admit I lose!"
"Come closer. Two more steps."
The Nine-Tails' voice sounded like a demon clawing its way out of hell. If looks could kill, Naruto would've been slaughtered hundreds of times over already.
After their usual exchange of insults, one boy and one fox took an intermission.
"Hey, big fox." Naruto knocked on the bars again. "We've been yelling at each other for years, but we've never actually learned anything about each other. What's your name?"
"..."
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto continued, unfazed. "At least, that's my name right now. Might be my name for this whole life."
"..."
"Hey!" Naruto stood and slapped the gate hard. "Don't be like that. We've known each other forever—give me something!"
"..."
"…Don't tell me you don't even have a name?" Naruto raised a brow and waved a hand. "Whatever. A name's just a label. Want me to give you one?"
"..."
"Hey! Yes or no—just say it!"
"..."
"Make a sound!"
He kicked the bars.
"..."
Naruto: "..."
After confirming, as usual, that he'd gotten absolutely nowhere, Naruto sat down cross-legged again and resumed meditating.
What he didn't notice was that the instant he closed his eyes, the Nine-Tails lifted one eyelid slightly—its massive slit pupil quietly watching the boy beyond the seal.
An hour later.
Naruto ended today's meditation. He looked up at the fox, whose eyes were still shut, and was about to leave the mindscape—
"You're not afraid of me?"
Naruto froze mid-motion, staring at the enormous fox in surprise.
"That's a rare one." He quickly answered before the fox could bristle again.
"Who do you think I am—afraid?"
A joke.
What hadn't he seen?
A thousand-year white serpent—big enough to coil around mountains? He'd cut it down.
A divine dragon living through a sacred tree, granting immortality? Impressive—still ended up crying under his blade.
All kinds of monsters, freaks, and nightmares—he'd seen plenty.
He wasn't about to be scared by a fox that was only… a little bigger than normal.
And honestly, if you looked closely, this big fox—aside from the awful temper and venomous mouth—was actually pretty striking.
Scrrrrk—
A harsh sound that prickled the skin rang out. Naruto looked over.
The Nine-Tails was sharpening its claws.
"Anything else?" Naruto asked.
"I'm leaving."
"..."
"I'm really leaving."
"..."
"I'm really, really leaving."
"Get out."
"Gladly!"
As Naruto vanished, the Nine-Tails slowly closed its eyes again.
Back in reality, Naruto opened his eyes and smiled faintly.
Arguing with the Nine-Tails was one of his few sources of entertainment.
"…Looks like I'm running out of food."
He stood. "Time to restock."
He got dressed and left, closing the door behind him.
But the direction he headed wasn't the market street.
It was the woods outside the village.
It wasn't that he couldn't go to the shops. People forgot quickly. Since Naruto had lived self-sufficiently for so long and rarely showed his face, most people on the street had more or less forgotten what he looked like. At most, they only remembered that someone like him existed.
That wasn't just a guess—last time he went to buy seasonings, nobody recognized him at all.
Even so, he still avoided crowded places whenever possible.
If someone recognized him, they'd feel miserable—and so would he.
Better to hunt and forage out in the wild. He'd been doing it for years, and he hadn't exactly starved to death yet.