"So, Naruto, did something happen to you today?"
Outside, the three of them sat chatting beneath a large tree.
Naruto blinked at Shikamaru's deadpan remark, still not understanding what he meant.
"You didn't skip class today. Weren't we supposed to go fishing? I fell asleep, and you didn't even wake me up. Then you sat through the whole morning's lessons."
Shikamaru looked suspicious.
Naruto broke into a sweat. He'd spent all morning observing the other kids in class. As for yesterday's plans—how could he be expected to remember such a trivial thing?
"Yeah, yeah. We'll go tomorrow."
Naruto could only scratch his head and grin sheepishly.
Shikamaru said nothing more, but Naruto's strange behavior today left him feeling puzzled.
The three of them fell silent and began eating lunch. Naturally, they ate the lunches the other two had brought. Naruto didn't need to eat, but he enjoyed food. Nearby, Hinata watched him eat, wanting to share her lunch with him, but her shy nature kept her from working up the courage.
With his greatly heightened senses, Naruto naturally noticed little Hinata fretting nearby. He was genuinely a little worried about her disposition at this age. It seemed almost like depression. Fortunately, he knew what Hinata was like when she grew up. In the end, her family—and especially her father—were to blame for it.
Still, seeing Hinata's troubled little expression made Naruto happy. It was enough that he'd received her kindness. Asking Hinata to meet him in front of everyone would be too much for her shy self at this age.
Classes at the Ninja Academy consisted of theory lessons in the morning and practical training in the afternoon. The basics included ninja running, Shuriken, Kunai, and simple traps. These were all part of practical training; sparring wasn't required every day.
Today's training was with Kunai.
Groups of children threw wooden Kunai at targets in the distance.
The three of them were the class dead last, and none of them took it seriously. They all looked listless.
"Hey, Shikamaru, how about we skip class now? This is so boring."
Naruto saw that the teacher wasn't paying them any attention and turned to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru's eyes lit up at Naruto's suggestion, and he perked up a little.
The three of them nervously glanced around, then sneaked over to the wall. With a single leap, they were out of the school. They weren't new to skipping class, and without a word, they headed to their usual spot.
It was a quiet place in the hills behind the school, with a river and woods all around. Hardly anyone ever came there.
Shikamaru found a tree and lay down beneath it, hands behind his head, ready to nap again. Choji took out some chips and started eating, while Naruto retrieved the fishing rod he'd hidden away and began fishing.
The weather was clear, without a cloud in the sky. All three of them spent the day doing whatever they enjoyed, chatting now and then.
Maybe he was especially lucky today, because Naruto soon caught several big fish.
Choji hurried over to help roast them.
As a chubby kid who loved food, Choji was naturally an expert at grilling.
"Nice work, Choji."
Naruto couldn't help praising him. Even without many seasonings, Choji had somehow made the fish taste delicious.
Choji never acted modest when it came to food. He immediately puffed out his chest.
After eating and enjoying themselves, the three went their separate ways. As Naruto walked through Konoha's streets and felt the looks people were giving him, he merely frowned and hurried home.
Danzo and the Third were threats within the village, the Akatsuki loomed beyond it, and the Nine-Tails caused trouble inside him. If he hadn't known about all this, it wouldn't have bothered him. But now that he did, the pressure seemed to rest entirely on his shoulders.
He went home to begin training, but when Naruto saw his place, he frowned.
"Someone's been here."
A child wouldn't know to keep things clean. Naruto's room had always been full of dirty clothes and empty cups of instant noodles. He hadn't had time to tidy up since arriving in this world, but his memory was good enough that a single glance that morning had let him remember how everything had been arranged.
Someone had moved things inside, and there were traces of chakra on the floor.
Could it have been the Third?
Naruto frowned. The first person he thought of was the Third. There was no helping it; the old man was always monitoring him.
And indeed, after finishing his work that day, the Third took out his crystal ball to check on Naruto. It was his habit to keep an eye on the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki and see what sort of temperament he had. If anything happened, the Third could step in and leave Naruto with a good impression.
As long as the Third had recorded someone's chakra, he could observe them anywhere in Konoha. But Naruto had trained in the Six Thief Immortals that day, leaving no chakra signature for the Third to detect. Naturally, this greatly alarmed him.
He immediately summoned Kakashi to ask about it and sent the Anbu to investigate.
Naruto knew nothing about any of this. Given what he saw, the only people he could think of were the Third and Danzo.
He let out a breath, feeling helpless. He'd only just arrived and hadn't done anything yet, but already he was on edge. The identity of Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was a burden. Without the Nine-Tails, being the Fourth Hokage's son meant he might not have become Hokage, but at least he wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state. But because of the Nine-Tails, Danzo wanted to control it. If he could, his chances of becoming Hokage would rise considerably.
But the Third naturally didn't want Danzo to control the Nine-Tails. Caught between them, Naruto was the one who truly suffered. Danzo had caused the situation he was in, but there was no denying that the Third wanted to see it too. Only when Naruto was suffering could the Third appear as his kindly grandfather.
Naruto lowered his head and began tidying up. A shadow flickered in his eyes, unseen by anyone.
The room was small, so it didn't take long to clean. Besides, there wasn't much in it to begin with.
But when he thought about it, the Nine-Tails seemed to have it even worse than he did. It had become a family heirloom: the first Jinchūriki, Mito Uzumaki; the second Jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki; the third Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki.
Thinking about it made Naruto happy. Sure enough, as long as someone else had it worse, he could feel better.
Naruto climbed onto the bed, closed his eyes, and began training.
The Hokage Building.
In the Hokage's office, the light was dim, and smoke hung in the air, giving the place a somewhat sinister feel.
The Third sat in his chair, his aged brows drawn tightly together.
"Knock, knock."
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The Third called out, and Iruka walked in.
"Lord Third."
Iruka bowed in greeting. Unless someone was being formally assigned a mission, there was no need to kneel. Ordinary villagers could simply address the Third as "Lord Third." After all, he was just the village head; there weren't that many formalities.
"Mm, Iruka, I called you here because I wanted to ask how Naruto did today."
The Third smiled as he asked.
How Naruto was doing? As if you didn't know.
That was what Iruka thought, but he didn't dare say it aloud.