Little Naruto: You... Don't Hate Me?

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"

White and azure waves crashed against the reefs, sending crystal-clear sprays several feet into the air.

They rolled onto the shore, tracing silver lines across the beach, as though framing the vast sea with a glittering silver border.

From afar, the sky and sea seemed to blend into one.

Though it was merely a scene simulated by the Crimson Moon Book, it still made one feel refreshed and at ease, relaxed and delighted from the depths of the heart.

On the beach, two figures—one large and one small—sat cross-legged facing each other.

Beside them, a "cold and domineering" Nine-Tailed fox was sleeping soundly, letting out bursts of snores.

It looked as though it were sleeping sweetly, but its tall, upright fox ears, which twitched from time to time, exposed its true intentions.

—Fox eavesdropping.jpg.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but try to choose the ones you most want to ask."

Uzumaki Menma broke the silence first. "If we take too long, a certain Old Man might start getting suspicious."

"The Strongest Hokage," Hiruzen Sarutobi, had a ninjutsu called the Telescope Technique.

As long as he had grasped someone's Chakra Nature, he could use the Crystal Ball to monitor a specific person from afar.

In Menma's perception, whenever that old bastard used the Telescope Technique, fluctuations of Chakra would appear above Naruto's head.

And right now, every move Naruto made was under Hiruzen Sarutobi's surveillance.

Though Little Naruto was curious about who the "Old Man" his big brother mentioned was, he still asked the question that concerned him most.

"Big brother, do you... not hate me?"

Naruto's first question made Uzumaki Menma freeze for a moment.

He had assumed Little Naruto would ask who he was, who that big fox was, where this place was, or how to get out.

But he had never expected Little Naruto to ask whether he hated him.

"Why would I..."

He was about to question him in confusion.

But Menma lowered his head and met the child's gaze, and the rest of his words caught in his throat. He instantly fell silent.

Within those azure eyes, he saw the purest anticipation—and his own reflection.

Even the Nine-Tails, who had been pretending to sleep nearby, let out a sharp snort.

From Naruto's birth until he turned three, the two of them had always kept an eye on his life.

After the Fourth Hokage and his wife died, the Third Hokage Old Man must have gone senile.

He had actually handed Little Naruto, still swaddled as an infant, over to a nanny.

At first, the nanny had been fairly diligent.

But after the rumor that "Naruto Uzumaki is the incarnation of the demon fox" spread in Year 53, that nanny began abusing Little Naruto.

At first, she deliberately left Naruto hungry and thirsty. Later, she even tried to tamper with his food.

The ANBU responsible for "protecting" Naruto were clearly stationed outside, yet they turned a blind eye.

That was when Menma could no longer sit still.

"He might be a bit of an idiot, but he's my counterpart in the Real World and the subordinate I've already claimed. How could I let you bully him?"

He had the Nine-Tails release a tiny thread of unrefined Tailed Beast Chakra, directly turning that vicious nanny into an idiot.

It had been satisfying, but the consequence was that Hiruzen Sarutobi mistook it for the seal loosening and added another layer of the Five Elements Seal to Naruto.

It did not affect Uzumaki Menma much, but the Nine-Tails' cage had clearly become smaller and tighter.

Menma: Congratulations, Mr. Kurama, on acquiring a luxurious ocean-view villa.

The Nine-Tails' expression could be summed up in three words—mmp.

At the same time, the village began strictly forbidding any mention of terms like "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

The villagers began referring to Naruto as "that one." Driven by fear and hatred, they progressed from beating and cursing him to the cold violence of today.

Although the news that "Naruto Uzumaki is the incarnation of the demon fox" had been secretly spread by Shimura Danzō.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had merely given him a token reprimand.

Even now, he was still watching from the shadows. It seemed he wanted to use this opportunity to test the stability of Naruto Uzumaki, this "container."

Then, when the time was right, he would step in and become the white moonlight in Little Naruto's heart, teaching him the Will of Fire.

Thus, up to this point, the only attitudes Little Naruto had ever felt from others were indifference, hostility, and scrutiny.

No wonder the first thing he asked Menma was whether he hated him.

To shift all hatred and malice onto a child over nothing more than some absurd gossip—it was both foolish and pathetic.

"Minato Namikaze was a qualified Hokage and a qualified ninja. But he was absolutely not a qualified father, much less a qualified politician."

If Naruto had merely been an ordinary ninja, then as the Son of a Hero and the Hokage's son, the Konoha High-Ranking Officials certainly would not have minded tossing him a bone.

But Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, practically Konoha's nuclear weapon.

Both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō wanted to keep the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki firmly under their own control.

One simply used extreme and crude methods, while the other used subtle and sophisticated ones.

Uzumaki Menma sighed inwardly.

Child of Destiny?

What a joke!

He was nothing more than a pitiful creature manipulated his entire life, unable to change anything.

Aside from his will and temperament, that Big Naruto was utterly terrible in terms of vision, scope, and methods.

Even the dream he had pursued his entire life had very likely been forcibly instilled in him through brainwashing.

"Rather than let that Old Toad and the Old Man of the Six Paths use you as a weapon, I might as well show you the truth of this world."

With that thought, Menma's expression softened further. "You're optimistic, strong, and sensible. How could I possibly hate you?"

It was only the simplest of words, yet they left Little Naruto rooted to the spot.

Then, under the astonished gazes of one fox and one human.

His eyes turned red, and tears began streaming down uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, sob~"

Little Naruto hurriedly wiped at his tears while continuously mumbling apologies.

His big brother had just said he admired his strength and optimism, yet the very next second, he had uselessly burst into tears.

After finally meeting someone who appreciated him and bore him no ill will, this should have been something to celebrate.

He should have smiled like he always did.

But why did his heart feel so sour? Why did he want to cry so badly...

The Nine-Tails stopped pretending to sleep as well. It pursed its lips toward Uzumaki Menma, signaling for him to hurry up and comfort the brat.

This old man hated seeing human pups cry and whimper. It was truly irritating.

Menma's eye twitched, and he sincerely felt that this was troublesome.

He had never comforted a child in either of his lives.

"Sigh." Uzumaki Menma patted Little Naruto's head. "Cry. You'll feel better once you let it out."

No matter how sensible or mature he was, he was still only a three-year-old child.

But Naruto forcibly held back his tears and revealed his usual sunny smile. "I-I'm fine now. Sorry, big brother..."

"My name is Uzumaki Menma. Call me Menma-nii."

"Menma-nii, I-I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

It was the first time Little Naruto had introduced himself so solemnly, and he seemed a little awkward.

The Japanese word for "Bamboo Shoots" was menma, written with the Chinese characters 麺麻, and it referred to "bamboo shoots on ramen." Naruto's name also shared the same meaning as Narutomaki in ramen.

Naruto had said in the original story that he liked Narutomaki and hated Bamboo Shoots.

If nothing unexpected had happened, Menma and Naruto should have been two people completely opposed to each other.

But with the variable of a Foreign Soul, everything had changed.