The Calm Before the Storm

It had only been Monday when the week began, and now the weekend had arrived.

Ordinary days always seemed to pass in a flash.

There was the usual training and the usual classes. Every now and then, Hui also used the Magic Cube to return to the town.

Hui told Yuki about his everyday life, even though she couldn't hear any of it yet.

This weekend, Hui planned to fulfill his promise to Naruto.

So, with an air of mystery, he led the two of them to the highest point in all of Konoha: Kage Rock.

The three of them gazed out over the village below.

Hui spoke first.

"Naruto, your dream isn't really to become Hokage, is it?"

"Huh? Of course it is! I'm going to become Hokage and make everyone acknowledge me!"

Naruto answered excitedly.

"Naruto, do you know? Becoming Hokage doesn't mean you'll earn other people's recognition."

Naruto looked down at the familiar yet unfamiliar Konoha. He'd once thought about coming here, but he never had.

The three stood atop the stone face of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze—the latest statue carved into Kage Rock.

"What... do you mean?"

Naruto's little head couldn't make sense of it.

His experiences had driven him to train his ninjutsu tirelessly.

When Hui wasn't around, Naruto practiced with Sasuke.

Recently, Naruto had finally figured out how to release the Fire Ball Technique.

The neighbors still harbored ill will toward Naruto, but they no longer showed it in front of him.

Naruto could now shop normally and eat at other restaurants without a problem. Still, his favorite was Ichiraku Ramen.

On the other hand, quite a few of his classmates had challenged him.

But Naruto now had his massive reserves of chakra, and he'd been training with Sasuke for quite some time.

It took only a few punches to knock them all down.

Naruto didn't dislike this kind of life.

Hearing Hui say that so suddenly left Naruto confused.

"The villagers are only afraid of a ninja's power. And your classmates never really held much of a grudge against you."

Hui kept his gaze on the village below, his voice calm yet firm.

"Naruto, your dream is actually very simple. You just want everyone to acknowledge you, right?"

Sasuke looked as though he wanted to say something, but held back.

Naruto's expression froze. He... couldn't deny it.

For Naruto, becoming Hokage was still only a surface-level dream.

More than anything, it was a promise dangled before him by the Third Hokage.

A promise that becoming Hokage would earn him everyone's recognition. The Third Hokage had used it to guide Naruto.

Hui wasn't Sasuke. Naruto usually accepted what he said.

Besides, this was the original dream Naruto had buried deep in his heart.

Most of the things people did as children revolved around one central purpose: not disappointing their parents.

Just like Naruto's original dream, most people spent their childhood yearning for their parents' approval.

"Since that's your real dream, let's start making it come true today! It'll be a lot easier than becoming Hokage."

Hui's voice seemed to grow cheerful.

A smile slowly returned to Naruto's face.

Naruto nodded emphatically. "Yeah! Hui, do you have a good idea?"

Sasuke stared blankly as he took the tools. Why had he followed these two idiots to do this today?

He could've been happily training ninjutsu with his older brother at the training ground.

Instead, he was going to pick up garbage with these two idiots.

Picking up garbage? Only that bastard Hui could come up with something like that.

Naruto also looked a little stunned as he took the tools.

Would this really help him earn people's recognition?

"Start with the little things. Give everyone a good impression of you. That's how you'll earn their recognition from the heart."

"I heard from my fa—senior that the Uchiha Clan once had a hero named Obito Uchiha."

"He was kindhearted. Even when he met an old woman on the street, he'd kindly help her cross."

"Though he was a dead-last, no one ever looked down on him."

Listening to this example, Naruto felt as if he'd found the path forward.

"Right! Sasuke, Hui, let's pick up all the garbage in the village today!"

"Hmph. How could three of us possibly finish the whole job?"

"Dummy Sasuke, we can use ninjutsu! Watch this."

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique! Everyone, give it your all! Let's finish everything before sunset!"

"Yeah!"

With Naruto's army of clones leaving Hui and Sasuke dumbfounded, they finished cleaning Konoha by four in the afternoon.

The general store.

A man sat listlessly in his chair, using the hat on his head to cover his face as he hummed an unfamiliar tune.

His name was Miki, an ordinary general store owner.

Hearing a noise at the door, he quickly got up.

"De—Naruto-kun, that's a lot! Did you pick all of this up by yourself?"

Miki had originally wanted to chase this "Demon Fox" away, but the higher-ups had recently issued a warning.

He had no choice but to change his attitude.

But seeing dozens of densely packed sacks of garbage in front of him left Miki feeling quite annoyed.

Miki ran a general store. He only occasionally took in children's recyclables as a way of contributing to Konoha. He'd never considered it a source of income.

But the exhausted look on the "Demon Fox's" face made him hesitate to turn Naruto away.

"No, no! My friends and I did it together. How much will you pay for all this, sir?"

Naruto was exhausted, but his spirits were still high.

He rubbed the back of his head, his eyes narrowing into crescents with his smile.

Whether Naruto had any money in his little wallet was practically a Schrödinger's question.

But at this point in the timeline, he really didn't have much.

Naruto seemed to understand why Hui had chosen this way to help him earn people's recognition.

"I'll earn everyone's recognition little by little, just like Senior Obito."

That was what Naruto thought.

Miki handed over a thick stack of bills as he watched the "ninja" standing before him sort the sacks of garbage just as he'd wanted.

Miki still resented Naruto, but that feeling wasn't as strong as it had been before.

A "Demon Fox"? A Demon Fox wouldn't treat them this way.

Prejudice was a mountain in people's hearts. Now, someone had taken the first step up it.

The road came into existence only after enough people had walked it.

Hui planned to use the life lessons he'd learned to help Naruto climb this mountain.

Seeing Naruto return, Hui waved and called out from a distance, "Well? I told you things would be different this time."

The fatigue vanished from Naruto's face, and he waved back from afar.

Sasuke, who had been sprawled on a bench nearby, heard Hui's voice and forced himself to sit up straight.

Sasuke had just pushed himself to make six clones, and he'd kept going until now with seven times the exhaustion.

The only reason he'd managed to last this long was his competitive streak.

When Naruto came closer, he divided the money in his hands into three equal shares, intending to split it among his friends.

"Haha, no need, Naruto. You did almost all the work yourself."

"Right, Sasuke?"

Hui nudged Sasuke beside him with his elbow.

Sasuke didn't want to answer anything. He just nodded.

Hui wasn't particularly tired, actually.

He knew his own fatigue couldn't exceed a certain limit, or it would worry his mother.

He apologized to his two friends in his heart, then kept the same number of clones as Sasuke until now.

After Sasuke answered, Hui smiled at Naruto. "How about you treat us to a meal? That ramen you mentioned last time sounded pretty good."

"As a reward, treat us to ramen."

Sasuke did his best to keep his voice steady. "I... I want some too."

Naruto tightened his grip, crumpling the bills in his hand.

He understood. His two friends didn't need the money, and they didn't care about it.

He pushed aside his tangled thoughts, and the sunny smile returned to his face.

"Okay! Then let's head to Ichiraku Ramen."

"Let's eat! *3"

Inside Ichiraku Ramen, the three of them wolfed down their noodles.

Ichiraku Ramen had managed to stand out among the restaurants run by ninja clans. They certainly knew what they were doing.

For the past few years, Hui had eaten Chuanhe's cooking. It was nice to change things up once in a while.

Sasuke must've been hungry. He cleaned his bowl and ordered several more.

"Sorry, Uncle Teuchi. We ate quite a bit today."

Naruto pressed his palms together and apologized to Teuchi.

"Haha, I'm happy everyone likes my cooking."

Naruto, still unaccustomed to it, placed the money on the counter.

He remembered the kindness Uncle Teuchi had shown him every time he came here to eat.

Seeing that his two friends had nearly finished eating, Naruto stood to the side and took a deep breath.

"Hui, I've decided. I'm going to earn everyone's recognition before I graduate from the Ninja Academy!"

This time, Naruto made his vow with complete seriousness.

Hui paused, chopsticks in hand.

Sasuke also stopped drinking his soup for a moment.

It seemed like the same wish, but in truth it was Naruto's most significant change.

"Yeah! Good luck!"

"Hmph! If you want people to acknowledge you, you'll have to get past me first."

"Huh? Sasuke, you haven't acknowledged me yet? That's the first I've heard of it."

"Shut up, Naruto, you..."

Teuchi watched the three of them laughing and chatting, genuinely happy for Naruto.

It's good. You're not alone anymore, Naruto.

Ayame and I will be rooting for you too.

Meanwhile, night had fallen at the Hokage Building.

Shisui Uchiha hurried over and knocked on the door of the Hokage Office.

Inside, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been debating with Danzo. When he saw Shisui Uchiha arrive, a strange smile crossed his face.

All this time, Chuanhe had always been strangely confident about the future.

But with so little life experience, he would eventually pay the price for his arrogance.