Konoha.
On the embankment by the river, Sasuke held a bag and chewed noisily. His cheeks puffed in and out, and sugar syrup stained the corners of his mouth.
"Big brother, have some too."
As he spoke, he handed the Three-Color Dango in the bag to Itachi behind him.
Itachi smiled, ruffled Sasuke's hair, took a dango, and bit into it.
"Hehehe..." Sasuke grinned foolishly.
Big brother spent the whole day with me today. That's really rare.
"You still need to practice your Shuriken Throwing Technique properly. You can't even hit the bullseye yet."
Itachi said it casually.
Sasuke chewed the dango in his mouth.
"That's because no one usually trains with me."
Itachi reached out and flicked Sasuke's forehead.
"Do you not know how to train by yourself just because no one is with you? You're not a child anymore."
"Ow."
Sasuke rubbed his forehead and tugged on Itachi's sleeve, shaking it.
"Big brother, can you practice with me more often from now on? I'll hit the bullseye soon."
Itachi affectionately patted Sasuke's head.
"Three days. I'll practice with you for the next three days. If you still can't hit the bullseye after that, I'll punish you."
"Ah!? Really!?" Sasuke was both shocked and delighted!
After all, Itachi was extremely busy in the ANBU. Sometimes he would not come home for days at a time, so taking consecutive days off like this was very rare.
Itachi nodded without speaking.
Although he still held his ANBU identity, it was practically only nominal now.
He had once needed to act as a double agent, but now that he had fallen out with Konoha, Konoha would not trust him.
Naturally, he planned to return to the clan and help out.
There were still a few days of transition before the Police Force changed over, so he could rest for a few days.
Generally speaking, it was extremely difficult to leave the ANBU once one joined, since they frequently came into contact with all kinds of secrets.
But Itachi was not included in that rule. He had the Uchiha behind him.
If he chose not to go to the ANBU, the Third Hokage could do nothing about it.
As Itachi pondered, he suddenly noticed Sasuke running toward the river on his short legs. A blond child was squatting there.
That is... the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?
Itachi's gaze swept around, and sure enough, he spotted four ANBU monitors in the nearby trees.
His brows furrowed slightly—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's identity was sensitive, and he could not interfere rashly.
The ANBU were watching. Any unnecessary action could bring trouble to the Uchiha.
With that in mind, he walked toward Sasuke.
"Crybaby, why are you here?" Sasuke ran up to Naruto and patted his shoulder.
He had often practiced the Great Fireball Technique here in the past and frequently saw Naruto playing by the river alone. The two had known each other for a long time.
Sasuke had seen Naruto secretly crying several times, so he had given him the nickname Crybaby.
When Naruto, who had been silently shedding tears, saw Sasuke, he hurriedly wiped them away.
"Show-off, why is it you!?"
Sasuke saw the wound on Naruto's forehead, and his expression darkened.
"What happened? Did someone bully you again?"
Naruto did not want his problems to trouble Sasuke. He pressed a hand to his forehead and spoke nervously.
"N-no, I fell by accident."
Sasuke clenched his fists. His lips moved as though he wanted to press further, but Itachi's voice interrupted him.
"Let's go, Sasuke."
Sasuke turned back to see the urging look on Itachi's face, then looked at Naruto again.
Naruto pushed Sasuke. "Show-off, you should go first. I'm fine."
Sasuke hesitated, then suddenly shoved the bag in his hand into Naruto's hands.
"This is for you...!"
With that, he turned and ran off with a patter of footsteps.
Naruto stared blankly at Sasuke's departing figure, warmth filling his heart.
He carefully opened the bag. Inside were two skewers of Three-Color Dango.
Naruto carefully picked one up and bit off a piece.
It was sweet.
The ANBU in the nearby trees spoke softly. "Should we report this to the Third Hokage?"
"No need. Itachi took him away himself, so he was clearly avoiding suspicion. We shouldn't go looking for trouble."
"Yes, Captain."
Three-Color Dango was made by stringing together balls of glutinous rice flour mixed with various vegetable and fruit juices.
It was actually a very cheap and ordinary snack.
But Naruto had never eaten it before.
Someone who could barely afford regular meals naturally had no extra money to buy snacks.
Even if he had money, no one would sell to him.
After eating one skewer, Naruto felt a little full. He could not bear to eat the last one, so he planned to save it for dinner.
He carefully hugged the bag to his chest and headed home along the outskirts of the residential district.
After all, those residents were far from friendly toward him.
Naruto only wanted to get home quickly now. The wound on his head hurt a little.
But what he feared came true.
As Naruto walked, a powerful force suddenly struck from behind and knocked him to the ground.
"Ah!"
Naruto cried out and crashed heavily onto the ground.
Ignoring the scrape on his arm, he hurriedly looked at the paper bag in his arms.
But unfortunately, the bag had been crushed open, and the Three-Color Dango rolled onto the ground.
Naruto stretched out his hand desperately, trying to reach for the dango.
That was... a gift from Show-off...
Splat!
A foot stepped on the Three-Color Dango, crushing it flat.
Naruto looked up and saw a chubby boy about his age grinning maliciously at him.
"Oh? You even have Three-Color Dango. Where did you steal that from!?"
As he spoke, he ground his foot against the ground, turning the Three-Color Dango completely into mush.
Naruto's eyes instantly turned red!
"Bastard!" Naruto suddenly shoved the chubby boy to the ground.
He threw several punches at the boy in succession, making him cry out in pain.
"Ow, ow! Father!"
Bang!
Naruto felt a sharp pain in his waist, and his whole body was kicked half a meter away like a ball.
A thirty-year-old man first helped the chubby boy up.
"Damned Demon Fox!"
He angrily kicked Naruto in the back.
Naruto groaned and curled up tightly on the ground, trying to protect himself as much as possible.
Sure enough, a relentless barrage of punches and kicks followed.
Thud! Thud!
Dull impacts rang out against Naruto's body, and he let out pained groans from time to time.
Seeing Naruto's miserable state, the chubby boy eagerly joined in. With the foot that had crushed the Three-Color Dango, he repeatedly kicked Naruto in the head.
"You monster!"
"Go die!"
The ANBU in the nearby trees watched coldly, showing no intention of helping.
"Should we report this to Lord Hokage?"
Mikawa Ze, the ANBU captain responsible for this, shook his head.
"No. Lord Hokage has been so busy lately."
"Naruto gets beaten every day. There's no need to report such a trivial matter."
"Captain!" An ANBU beside him suddenly shouted.
"The Police Force!"
Naruto curled up on the ground in pain. The pain in his body was far less than the pain in his heart, and tears streamed down his face in grievance.
Why? Why do I have to suffer this kind of bullying?
Waaah... Why is no one helping me?
Suddenly, the beating stopped. A righteous male voice reached Naruto's ears.
"Shisui, as Konoha's guardians, we of the Police Force must stop every act of violence in Konoha!"
Naruto struggled to raise his head. Through his tear-blurred vision, several uniformed people appeared before his eyes.
He shook his head and finally saw the clan crest on their uniforms clearly.
A fan.
That is Show-off's clan.
Before you continue