Hyuga Hinata

Naruto staggered over.

When he got there, quite a crowd had already gathered.

Many of them were gritting their teeth in hatred, too preoccupied to even glare at Naruto.

It seemed their hatred for foreign enemies took priority over their hatred for him, the Nine-Tails Fox.

Naruto peered inside. The crowd was packed tight, and Anbu were guarding the outside of the inn. They were probably afraid someone would seek revenge against the Cloud Hidden delegation.

With this many people, he would not even get there in time to eat warm shit.

Home it was.

Actually, Naruto was quite interested in people from another country, but there were simply too many people.

Naruto thought the conflict with the Cloud Hidden had ended there, but two days later, things seemed to change again.

But none of it had anything to do with him, an "outsider." He did not even know what had happened.

Even when he tried asking around, no one paid him any attention.

The only thing Naruto could do was make himself stronger—constantly stronger. Only then could he find his own solid anchor in this turbulent, dangerous world.

Another two days passed.

That evening.

After polishing off a bowl of tonkotsu chashu ramen, Naruto took a walk to digest his food. Once he wandered over to his usual swing, he sat down and swung for half an hour.

Childhood really was interesting.

Four-year-old Naruto might not have thought so, but twenty-four-year-old Naruto felt differently. Yeah, it really is.

He had plenty of free time. Every day, he simply wandered around and explored the world.

After half an hour on the swing, Naruto prepared to head home.

It had snowed heavily that morning, leaving a thick layer on the ground.

The weather was freezing, yet he was not dressed very warmly.

Fire Release Chakra continuously warmed his body, while Wind Release Chakra helped him fend off the biting wind. With his Chakra control at a staggering 132 points, Naruto had brought this control to perfection.

Whenever he went out, as long as he was not revealing anything superhuman, this was how he usually trained himself.

There were few pedestrians on the road. Naruto walked a long way without encountering anyone.

Until—

A little girl in plain black clothes came running from the distance ahead. After only a few steps, she fell to the ground and began to cry.

"What's wrong?" Naruto walked over.

She was a girl about his age.

Seeing no adults accompanying her, Naruto actually felt a little delighted.

At last, someone he could talk to.

"Say something. If you just cry, I won't know what happened to you."

"I... I..."

"Where is your home?" Only when he got close did Naruto notice that the girl had Byakugan.

Those eyes looked a little familiar.

It seemed only that one clan possessed eyes like those.

"Come on, I'll take you home." As he spoke, Naruto took the girl's hand.

Naruto kept talking the whole way, but the little girl did not say a word, like a tree hollow that could not speak.

Humans were social creatures, after all. Deep down, Naruto desperately wanted a friend.

There had once been a question: if someone had enough food, WiFi, and phones and computers, how long could they stay home without going out?

Some said half a year, some said a lifetime, and some said they would go insane after just a few months.

But were phones and computers not social interaction too?

With phones and computers, people could receive fresh information at any time and interact through the internet.

What about Naruto?

He had nothing.

No one to talk to, no one to keep him company. The people who hated him did not even want to look at him twice.

Even more people avoided him as though he carried some contagious disease.

Naruto felt only endless loneliness. If he had not possessed such a strong heart, he would have fallen into depression by now.

He had been such a lively person in his previous life. Why had he ended up like this in this life?

At this moment, Naruto deeply understood Tom Hanks's experience in Cast Away.

He was not on a deserted island, yet it felt even worse than one. People surrounded him, but he did not have even one person to talk to.

This little girl was his Wilson.

After talking for so long, the two finally arrived at the entrance of the Hyuga estate.

"Your home is pretty big."

With such a grand estate, parents, and countless people to talk to, why had she still been so sad that she ran out to cry?

She was being a little melodramatic.

Although that was what he thought, Naruto still comforted her. "You have such a big home, so why are you crying?"

"Look at me. I don't have any family at all, but I would never cry so easily." Naruto flashed a brilliant, exemplary smile.

"Later~~~"

After bringing her home, Naruto smiled and waved goodbye.

Naruto thought that was the end of their story, but unexpectedly—

Two years later.

It was another snowy winter day, and Naruto was sitting on the swing.

Childhood was just this boring and repetitive.

Other than fishing, pulling pranks, swinging, lying atop Hokage Rock and feeling the wind, exploring the forest, and sitting somewhere high to watch the village, there seemed to be little he could do alone.

As Naruto checked his status panel and planned his next direction for improvement, a burst of commotion came from behind him.

"You're the Hyuga clan's daughter? Show us your Byakugan."

"If you don't want to, then stop looking at us. Your eyes are so creepy."

"You're basically a monster."

"Byakugan monster."

"HAHAHAHA!"

A Byakugan monster?

Heh!

Naruto hated people who discriminated against others for physical traits most of all. He himself had been hated by the entire village because of the Nine-Tails.

When it comes to this sort of thing, I, Uzumaki Naruto, nemesis of evil, must step up!

"Hey! Let go of that girl!" Naruto shouted as he charged over.

"Who are you?" one of the boys asked.

"My name is—" Naruto had not finished speaking when he was interrupted.

"I know you. You're the one who scribbles graffiti everywhere."

"That's right, it was me."

Naruto nodded. He had done all of that to complete Prankster Star's side quests.

"Pranks?"

"People like you are all idiots, aren't you?"

"HAHAHA! Moron."

The three took turns mocking him. Naruto did not say another word and stepped forward.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Three slaps rang out, crisp and sharp.

The right sides of their faces instantly turned bright red and swelled high.

The three stared in dumbfounded shock, unable to react at all. Only then did they feel the pain.

In an instant, they began screaming in pain.

Seeing that, Naruto raised his hand again, pretending he was about to hit them.

"Run!"

The leader shouted and ran off, while the other two followed after him, sniffling and crying.

"Hahaha."

For some reason, bullying little kids was actually kind of fun.

Oh, right. He was a little kid too.

Then it was fine.

"Um..."

"What is it?" Naruto turned to look at the girl.

Dark blue hair, Byakugan, and about his age.

Why did she look like someone he had seen before?

"Thank you so, so much." Hinata bowed in gratitude.

"It was nothing. Later~~"

Naruto waved goodbye.

It was time to eat. He had to hurry and grab a seat.

Halfway there, Naruto suddenly remembered.

Was this not the little girl he had escorted home two years ago?

He had not expected that after two years, she was still so timid... um... so...

Forget it. Time to eat.

Meanwhile, Hinata watched Naruto's receding figure, simply watching, watching...

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