The yellow-haired child sat astride a swing, his face full of longing as he watched the many children holding their parents' hands, his gaze filled with envy.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" Neji Hyuga glanced at the somewhat dirty, yellow-haired child.
His features made him easy for Neji Hyuga to recognize.
After all, there were not many children so young with strange whiskers on their faces, looking like some kind of animal and naturally making people feel uneasy.
"Who is that? Is he our classmate too?" Tenten looked in Neji Hyuga's direction and saw Naruto Uzumaki sitting alone on a swing beneath a large tree. He looked so pitiful that she felt as if he were about to cry.
"He's the Demon Fox." Tenten's Father's expression turned slightly unnatural.
He did not discriminate against Naruto Uzumaki.
Tenten's Father ran a weapon shop, and Naruto Uzumaki had never interacted with him. He had only occasionally heard the name Demon Fox from other vegetable vendors while shopping at the market.
When the Nine-Tails ravaged Konoha, many people lost their lives. That grief was buried deep in their hearts. No one knew who had first noticed Naruto Uzumaki's fox-like whiskers, but the villagers began calling him the Demon Fox and hating him.
But in truth, even many villagers did not know where the rumor had come from. They only knew that anyone associated with the Demon Fox might be taken away by certain ninja for some kind of examination. The matter was treated as taboo. Naturally, the villagers did not want trouble, nor did they want their children playing with the Demon Fox. And so, Naruto Uzumaki naturally became someone everyone discriminated against, the embodiment of misfortune in their eyes.
"Demon Fox?" Tenten had a question mark practically floating over her head. "Why is he called