Opening

"Hokage!"

A chunin burst frantically into Hiruzen Sarutobi's break room. The Old Man happened to have some rare free time at the moment, practicing his calligraphy.

"What is it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the scroll in front of him and couldn't help but speak.

"Naruto—that kid Naruto has pulled another prank!"

"This time he painted on the Hokage Rock!"

"And he used paint!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed at the news, set down his final brushstroke, and said:

"Go call Iruka. Have him drag the kid down."

"Yes, sir!"

The ninja left. Hiruzen Sarutobi continued admiring his calligraphy, but something about it still felt off.

"Naruto!"

Summoned by the ninja, Iruka was absolutely furious. As the years passed, Naruto had only gotten more and more mischievous.

And now he'd actually dared to use paint to 'make up' the faces of the four Hokage on the Hokage Rock?!

"Heh heh... Iruka-sensei..."

The now twelve-year-old Naruto looked at Iruka in front of him and let out a goofy grin, trying to bluff his way through.

"You little—!"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Get over there and clean up the Hokage Rock right now!"

Seeing that he couldn't weasel out of it, Naruto had no choice but to obediently go clean the paint off the Hokage Rock under the pressure of Iruka's long-accumulated authority.

Iruka leaned against the railing by the Hokage Rock, watching Naruto hang from a rope with a brush, slowly scrubbing away his own 'masterpiece.' His attitude softened a little.

"Hurry up and finish. Maybe you can still get home early."

Hearing Iruka's words, Naruto curled his lip and said with a shrug:

"Doesn't matter anyway. There's only me at home. Going back or not is the same."

Iruka paused at that, then put on a thoughtful expression and said:

"I heard Sakura's coming back to the village tomorrow."

"Wouldn't she be mad if she found out how much of a troublemaker you've been?"

"Eh?!"

"Iruka-sensei, don't you dare tell Sakura! I'll clean this paint off right now!"

Naruto's face went pale with shock, and he immediately threw himself into the work.

Iruka watched Naruto seriously scrubbing away, and his expression softened:

"Keep it up, Naruto. When you're done, we'll go get some Ichiraku Ramen!"

"My treat!"

"Yeah!"

Naruto's motivation skyrocketed. But he moved too wildly and accidentally knocked over the bucket hanging beside him, drenching Iruka from head to toe.

"Naruto!"

"Eheh~ hehe~~"

--

The Next Day

Ninja Academy

Cicadas shrieked endlessly in the trees. The blond-haired youth sat alone on a swing beneath them.

Shadows enveloped his entire body. The school gate was crowded with students' parents. The boy's azure eyes stared ahead, lost and dejected.

The shadow beneath the sunlight was like a clear dividing line, splitting him and the outside world into two separate realms.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah, I heard he's the only kid who didn't pass..."

"Well, that figures..."

"Why does the Hokage even keep him around..."

The adults' whispers up ahead stabbed into the boy's heart like needles.

The boy dropped his gaze to his own feet, sitting on the swing as it swayed gently with the wind.

"Naruto..."

A gentle, familiar voice suddenly rang out. Naruto looked up.

It was a teacher from the academy.

Mizuki.

"Sorry, Naruto."

The man's soft voice seemed to hold a strange power that soothed Naruto's heart.

"Mizuki-sensei..."

The blue-haired man gazed at the youth before him, a barely perceptible glint flashing in his eyes.

Finally... he'd found his chance...

That night

The night watched the yellow figure racing frantically through the forest.

Naruto leaped swiftly from tree to tree, carrying a massive scroll on his back.

The Scroll of Seals.

Mizuki-sensei had said that if he could learn the jutsu on this scroll, he'd definitely pass the graduation exam.

Then he could become a ninja, just like Sakura!

But the first technique on it was the Clone Technique, the one Naruto was worst at.

Naruto wanted to keep reading more, but Iruka-sensei had somehow gotten word and was already chasing after him. That forced Naruto to leave for now and find a safe place to study the rest of the techniques.

Swish!

A sharp, piercing sound came from behind. Naruto dodged almost instinctively.

A shuriken as big as half his body embedded itself deep into the tree trunk ahead!

"Huh?"

"I've been looking all over for you, kid."

A familiar voice rang out, making Naruto's eyes widen slightly.

That voice was...

The blue-haired man stepped out from the darkness, moonlight washing over him. But his expression was no longer as gentle as it had been during the day—it was filled with an unfamiliar coldness and madness.

"Mizuki... sensei..."

Naruto stared blankly at Mizuki, not understanding why he had attacked him.

A shuriken that big hitting him... would it kill him?

"Wh... why?"

"Mizuki-sensei, why would you..."

Naruto looked at the newcomer in a daze.

"Ha? What are you saying, you Demon Fox?"

"If I kill you here, I'd be doing the village a favor, right?"

Mizuki sneered at the blondie before him, his words dripping with mockery.

Demon Fox?

Me?

"Mizuki!"

At that moment, another voice rang out.

It was Iruka, sprinting toward them.

"Iruka? Perfect timing."

"Naruto, do you know why everyone in the village hates you?"

A twisted smile curled at the corner of Mizuki's mouth, as if what was about to happen would bring him great pleasure.

"Mizuki! Shut up!"

"That's a village secret!"

Iruka rushed in front of Naruto, turning his back to the youth.

"A secret?!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Don't kid yourself, Iruka!"

"You call that a secret?"

"Everyone in the village knows Naruto is the Demon Fox! Even Iruka, your own parents were killed by Naruto!"

"And the Fourth Hokage! He was also killed by this brat!"

Seeing Mizuki so frantically broadcasting this 'classified information,' Iruka's expression shifted to shock, and he said urgently:

"Shut up! Say no more!"

"Isn't what I'm saying the truth?"

Mizuki was unperturbed, continuing to take malicious delight in watching Naruto, who stood frozen behind Iruka, as he spoke:

"I bet even that village genius, Haruno Sakura—"

"—was deliberately arranged to get close to Naruto by someone, wasn't she?"

"Or maybe it was to covet your power."

"After all, who would approach a Demon Fox hated by everyone?"

Sakura...

Was she also someone deliberately arranged to get close to him?

Naruto's expression was lost. For the first time, he truly understood what it meant to be at a complete loss.

His instinct was to flee—to run away, to get far, far away from this absurd world.

Why...

Why...

Why was he the Demon Fox?

Why did everyone hate him?

He no longer cared about Iruka or Mizuki.

He only wanted to escape.

Fake. It was all fake. Everything was fake!

Naruto fled in a panicked frenzy, completely ignoring Iruka's desperate shouts behind him.

Why? Why?

Why was Sakura also deliberately getting close to him?

Was he really that repulsive?

At this moment, Naruto had almost no idea what to do or how to choose. The villagers' attitudes toward him were plain for all to see.

Why, of all people, did it have to be Sakura? Why did Sakura have to be the one to approach him?

"Naruto."

A clear, cool voice rang out in the night.

Naruto looked up instinctively, and when he saw the person, his breath caught.

A cherry-pink ponytail danced in the night breeze. The stark Anbu uniform was suffocatingly oppressive. A Raccoon Dog mask was perched above the side of her face, revealing her features and a pair of calm, gem-like emerald eyes...

The girl standing with the moon at her back seemed utterly unapproachable.

Beside her were three other Anbu, all centered around her...

Captain of Anbu Seventh Division...

Haruno Sakura.

This chapter's pacing is a little faster—after all, over thirty chapters in, it's about time to get to the main plot.