Yota

Sunlight fell over a corner of Konoha. Naruto and Menma explored and played around the village. When they reached a relatively secluded patch of grass, they saw a little boy sitting there all alone, a faint sadness in his eyes.

Menma recognized him at once. It was Yota, a child whose emotions could affect the weather. But for some reason, they had found Yota two years earlier than expected.

Naruto curiously walked up and asked, "Who are you? Why are you here all by yourself?"

The boy raised his head and answered softly, "My name is Yota."

Just then, Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, and Kiba arrived too. Looking at Yota with sympathy, Ino said, "Let's play together."

A hint of anticipation flickered in Yota's eyes, and he nodded. They started playing, but before long, the sky suddenly darkened.

Yota's expression grew tense and uneasy. Shikamaru frowned. "The weather's acting really weird."

Yota said quietly, "Maybe my mood is affecting the weather."

Everyone was a little surprised, but they weren't afraid of Yota. Naruto grinned. "That's so cool, Yota!"

But they didn't know that Yota was actually one of the test subjects in Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation experiments, which had made his ability somewhat unstable.

After that, they started playing hide-and-seek.

They decided who would be It with rock-paper-scissors, and Choji ended up being the seeker. He closed his eyes and began counting. "One, two, three..."

The others quickly scattered, each looking for a place to hide.

Yota spotted what looked like a secluded little alley nearby and ran over. He hid behind a large wooden barrel, his heart pounding with nervous excitement. It was his first time playing hide-and-seek with so many friends.

Naruto found a big tree and quickly climbed up, hiding himself among the leaves.

Menma used his agility to hide in a corner of a rooftop. He watched his surroundings warily to make sure no one could spot him easily.

Shikamaru found a patch of bushes and lay down inside it, muttering under his breath, "What a troublesome game."

Ino hid behind a flower bed, while Kiba simply ducked behind a large rock.

After finishing his count, Choji began searching.

He first looked behind the nearby houses and spotted Shikamaru hiding in the bushes.

Shikamaru reluctantly stood up and sighed. "I got found that quickly?"

Choji kept looking in the corners and found Ino behind the flower bed.

Before long, he found Kiba behind a large rock too.

After some effort, he also found Naruto and Menma.

But Choji searched again and again, checking every place in the village where they usually played, yet he still couldn't find Yota anywhere. Everyone began to worry, and Menma realized something was wrong too.

As it turned out, while Yota was hiding, Konoha's Anbu had spotted him.

Seeing Yota sneaking around in an alley, the Anbu members thought he was a spy from another country. They approached him silently, then suddenly seized and carried him away.

Yota was taken to an Anbu interrogation room, where the surroundings were dark and frightening. The Anbu members began questioning him, asking where he came from and what he was doing.

Yota was terrified. He cried as he explained that he was only playing hide-and-seek with his friends and wasn't a spy, but the Anbu members didn't believe him.

The others waited a long time, but Yota still didn't show up. They realized something might have happened.

Naruto said anxiously, "We have to find Yota!" So they began searching all over the village for him.

Menma immediately entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and started sensing the area. Suddenly, he picked up traces of Anbu activity.

"Found them! Follow me!" Menma said, then ran in a certain direction. Seeing this, the others hurried after him.

Following the traces, they soon reached the area near the Anbu base. But it was heavily guarded, and getting inside wouldn't be easy.

Naruto wanted to charge straight in, but Menma stopped him. "That won't work. We need to think of a plan."

Shikamaru stroked his chin and thought for a moment. "I've got an idea. We can cause a commotion to distract them, then sneak inside while they're not paying attention."

Everyone thought it was a good plan. Ino used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to control a small animal and had it make some noise on the other side of the base.

As expected, the Anbu members were drawn away. While their attention was divided, Naruto, Menma, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Kiba quietly slipped into the base.

They searched carefully for Yota. After looking around for a while, they finally found him tied up in the interrogation room.

When Yota saw his friends, his eyes filled with surprise and gratitude.

Menma quickly untied Yota, and then they prepared to leave quietly. But just then, the Anbu members spotted them.

The Anbu surrounded them and demanded to know why they had broken into the base.

Naruto stepped forward. "Yota's our friend. He's not a bad person. You've got the wrong idea about him."

The Anbu members didn't believe them, and the two sides were locked in a standoff.

Menma spoke up. "We can prove what Yota can do. His ability only changes the weather depending on his mood. He means no harm. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. If there's a problem, the Third Grandpa can come after me."

So Yota tried hard to calm himself down. As his emotions changed, the weather in the interrogation room slowly shifted. A ray of sunlight appeared, warming the room's gloomy atmosphere.

Seeing this, the Anbu members began to believe that Yota might really not be a spy. After investigating and talking things through, the Anbu finally released him.

Yota looked gratefully at his friends. "Thank you. I don't know what I would've done without you."

Naruto grinned. "We're friends! Friends are supposed to help each other!"

But Menma alone knew that Yota had died long ago. He was now an Impure World Reincarnation, just like Kushina. Because of his unusual ability, Yota had once been used as a tool to make money, and he'd died at a very young age.

Menma didn't want to shatter the illusion before him. The thing he wanted most right now was to find Orochimaru and get him to study the Reaper Death Seal.

The reason he wanted to find Orochimaru was simple: he wanted Orochimaru to exploit a loophole with the Death God and release Minato's soul. Once the soul was freed, Menma would definitely use Impure World Reincarnation on Minato. That was beyond question.

"By the way, how come we haven't seen Sakura these past few days?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura? I don't know why, but she hasn't wanted to come out and play with us lately," Ino replied.

"Is that so?" Naruto seemed lost in thought.

"Big brother, you don't... like Sakura, do you?" Menma raised an eyebrow and teased him.

"What are you talking about? Menma, don't say stupid things! I... how could I possibly like Sakura? I was just..." Naruto suddenly turned red and loudly protested.

Everyone burst out laughing. Naruto saw them all laughing and started to get annoyed.

"What are you laughing at? I really don't like Sakura!" Naruto continued to protest.

"The more you deny it, the guiltier you sound. Better to say nothing," Shikamaru remarked from the side.

Thinking about how Naruto would spend every day following Sakura around in the future gave Menma a headache. When would Naruto finally notice Hinata? He'd have to do something to bring the two of them together.

After all, Sakura only had eyes for Sasuke. Menma didn't really like Sakura. Early on, she couldn't do anything but cry, and all she thought about was Sasuke. She even treated Naruto with disgust.

And so, they all played together the entire day. As the sky gradually darkened, it was time to part ways. They waved goodbye to Yota and headed home.

But Menma left behind a Shadow Clone. Only after everyone else had gone did he appear.

"Huh? Menma, didn't you go home with Naruto? Why are you still here?" Yota spotted him and asked.

"Yota, I want to tell you something. Don't tell anyone else, okay?" Menma said.

"I won't tell anyone. What is it?" Yota asked.

Menma wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to tell Yota. He thought it over, then finally spoke. "Yota, do you know you're an Impure World Reincarnation?"

"Impure World Reincarnation? What's that?" Yota asked curiously as he looked at Menma.

Menma couldn't bring himself to tell Yota the truth. He really didn't know how to explain that Yota had been dead for a long time.