Yota

Sunlight spilled over a corner of Konoha, where Naruto and Menma were exploring and playing throughout the village. As they reached a relatively secluded patch of grass, they saw a young boy sitting all alone, his eyes filled with a faint, lingering sorrow.

Menma recognized him the moment he saw him; this was Yota, a child whose emotions could influence the weather. For some reason, however, he had discovered Yota two years earlier than expected.

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

The little boy looked up and replied softly, "My name is Yota."

Just then, Choji, Shikamaru, Ino, and Kiba arrived as well. Ino looked at Yota with pity and said, "Let's play together."

A glimmer of anticipation flashed in Yota's eyes, and he nodded. They began to play, but as they did, the sky suddenly darkened.

Yota's expression became somewhat nervous and uneasy. Shikamaru frowned and said, "This weather is getting really strange."

Yota whispered, "It might be my mood affecting the weather."

Everyone was a bit surprised, but they weren't afraid of Yota because of it. Naruto smiled and said, "That's amazing, Yota!"

However, they did not know that Yota was actually a test subject from Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation experiments, which was why his abilities were somewhat unstable.

Afterward, they started playing hide-and-seek.

Everyone used rock-paper-scissors to decide who would be the seeker, and Choji became the one who had to find everyone else. Choji closed his eyes and began to count: "1, 2, 3..."

The others scattered quickly, looking for their own hiding spots.

Yota saw a small, seemingly concealed alley nearby and ran toward it. He hid behind a large wooden barrel, his heart pounding—he was both nervous and excited, as this was his first time playing hide-and-seek with so many friends.

Naruto found a large tree and quickly climbed up, using the leaves to hide himself.

Menma used his agility to hide in the corner of a rooftop, observing his surroundings vigilantly to ensure he wouldn't be easily discovered.

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

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

After finishing his count, Choji began his search.

He first looked behind the surrounding houses and discovered Shikamaru hiding in the grass.

Shikamaru stood up helplessly and sighed, "Found so quickly, huh."

Choji continued searching in various corners and found Ino hiding behind the flower bed.

Not long after, he found Kiba behind the large rock.

Through the efforts of the group, Naruto and Menma were also found.

However, Choji searched circle after circle, covering every place in the village where they usually played, but he never found a trace of Yota. Everyone began to worry, and Menma realized something was wrong.

As it turned out, while Yota was hiding, he had been spotted by the Anbu of Konoha.

The Anbu members saw Yota sneaking around in the alley and assumed he was a spy from another country. They approached him silently and suddenly struck, subduing and capturing him.

Yota was taken to an Anbu interrogation room, where the environment was gloomy and terrifying. The Anbu members began to interrogate Yota, asking where he came from and what his motives were.

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

The friends waited for a long time, but Yota never appeared. They realized something must have happened.

Naruto said anxiously, "We have to go find Yota!" And so, they began searching for traces of Yota all over the village.

Menma entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode to begin sensing, and he suddenly discovered traces of Anbu activity.

"Found him! Follow me!" Menma said, then ran off in one direction. Seeing this, the others quickly followed.

They followed the tracks all the way to the vicinity of the Anbu base. However, the base was heavily guarded, and getting inside would not be easy.

Naruto wanted to charge straight in, but Menma stopped him, saying, "That won't work. We need to come up with a plan."

Shikamaru stroked his chin and thought for a moment before saying, "I have an idea. We can create some chaos to distract them, then sneak in while they're preoccupied."

Everyone agreed it was a good plan. Ino used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to control a small animal, making it create a noise on the other side of the base.

The Anbu members were indeed drawn away, and while their attention was diverted, Naruto, Menma, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Kiba quietly infiltrated the base.

They searched the base cautiously. After some time, they finally found Yota tied up in the interrogation room.

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

Menma quickly untied the ropes on Yota, and they prepared to leave quietly. However, just then, the Anbu members discovered them.

The Anbu members surrounded them and demanded an explanation for why they had broken into the Anbu base.

Naruto stepped forward and said, "Yota is our friend. He isn't a bad person; you've misunderstood him."

The Anbu members did not believe them, and the two sides reached a stalemate.

Menma spoke up then: "We can prove Yota's ability. His power only changes the weather based on his mood; he has absolutely no malicious intent. If any problems arise, I will take responsibility. If anything happens, have the Third Hokage come find me."

Yota tried his best to calm himself down. As his emotions shifted, the weather in the interrogation room gradually changed, and the gloomy atmosphere warmed up with the appearance of a ray of sunlight.

Seeing this, the Anbu members began to believe that Yota might not actually be a spy. After further investigation and communication, the Anbu finally released him.

Yota looked at his friends gratefully and said, "Thank you all. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known what to do."

Naruto smiled and said, "We're friends! Friends should help each other!"

But only Menma knew that Yota had long since died. The current version of him was a body brought back by Impure World Reincarnation, just like Kushina. Because of his unique abilities, Yota had been used as a tool for profit and had died long ago.

Menma had no desire to expose the reality before him; what he wanted most right now was to find Orochimaru and have him research the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

The reason for seeking out Orochimaru was simple: he wanted him to find a bug in the Death God to release the soul of Minato. Once the soul was freed, Menma would undoubtedly use Impure World Reincarnation to bring Minato back.

"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 wondered, lost in thought.

"Brother, don't tell me... you like Sakura?" Menma raised an eyebrow, teasing him.

"What are you talking about! Menma, don't spout nonsense! I... how could I possibly like Sakura? I was just..." Naruto suddenly blushed and retorted loudly.

Everyone burst into laughter at his words, which only served to irritate Naruto further.

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

"The more you explain, the guiltier you look. It's better to just stay quiet," Shikamaru remarked from the side.

The thought of Naruto constantly chasing after Sakura in the future gave Menma a headache; he wondered when Naruto would finally notice Hinata and decided he would have to play matchmaker between the two.

After all, Sakura was head over heels for Sasuke, and truth be told, Menma didn't care much for her. In the early days, Sakura did nothing but cry and obsess over Sasuke, while she held nothing but disdain for Naruto.

And so, they spent the entire day playing together. As the sky gradually darkened and it came time to part ways, everyone waved goodbye to Yota and headed home.

However, Menma had left behind a Shadow Clone, and only after everyone else had departed did he reveal himself.

"Eh? Menma, didn't you go home with Naruto? Why are you still here?" Yota asked upon spotting him.

"Yota, I want to tell you something, but you must not tell anyone else," Menma said.

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

Menma struggled with how to phrase what he wanted to say. He hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Yota, do you know that you were brought back by Impure World Reincarnation?"

"Impure World Reincarnation? What is that?" Yota asked, looking at Menma with curiosity.

Menma couldn't bear to tell him the truth; he simply didn't know how to explain to Yota that he had already died long ago.