Naruto and Sasuke

"Sasuke, have you gotten used to living here with Grandpa?"

In the small courtyard, Sasuke was meticulously practicing taijutsu.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged figure stood nearby with his hands behind his back, watching the hardworking Sasuke with kindness in his eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Lord Hokage."

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Sasuke stopped striking the wooden post, bowed deeply to him, and spoke with gratitude.

This kind old man was the Hokage and should have been extremely busy, yet he still set aside time every day to teach him. Sasuke was deeply moved by that.

He was also quite satisfied with the environment here. After all, if he had to keep living in that empty place full of memories every day, he felt he would sooner or later be driven mad.

"Good boy, just call me Grandpa. Grandpa will teach you well, help you rebuild the Uchiha Clan, and carry its name forward."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gently patted Sasuke's head. His mouth moved as he spoke, yet the pipe clenched between his lips never fell. It was quite miraculous.

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Sasuke felt a surge of emotion, but he did not show it.

After a long while, Sasuke finally spoke softly.

"Thank you, Grandpa. I'll definitely work hard..."

Sasuke was not afraid of others looking at him coldly, but when people treated him well, he did not know what to do.

Though he was only seven years old, he could still tell whether someone was good or bad.

"We'll have dinner together tonight. Grandpa has work to do first."

Hearing Sasuke call him Grandpa, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled faintly before his figure vanished from the spot.

Only Sasuke remained in the empty courtyard, standing there in a daze.

After spacing out for a moment, he resumed his grueling training.

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of handling official matters. Instead, he first took out a crystal ball.

A small image appeared within the crystal ball, filled with glistening water...

Looking at the empty bathhouse, Hiruzen Sarutobi found it rather boring, so the image in the crystal ball shifted.

A small figure diligently practicing taijutsu appeared in the image.

Seeing Sasuke train so earnestly, a faint smile appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips.

Originally, he had merely acted on a whim, wanting to leave Konoha with a trace of the Uchiha Clan's bloodline.

But the child was still so young. If Sasuke remained in the lonely environment of the Uchiha Clan Grounds, problems would arise sooner or later.

When Sasuke grew up, he might very well abandon Konoha without hesitation.

That was why Hiruzen Sarutobi had brought Sasuke into his home.

On one hand, it was for the ordinary villagers to see: the Uchiha orphan had been brought back and was being properly cared for by him.

After all, the Uchiha Clan did not have a very good reputation, but they had still rendered great service to Konoha.

On the other hand, Konoha was now completely under his control. No clan dared defy his will anymore.

So he wanted to leave Konoha with some outstanding seeds.

Of course, this would also raise history's opinion of him somewhat. The mark he left upon Konoha would become deeper as well.

But as he spent more time with Sasuke, he discovered that although the child was somewhat more foolish than geniuses like Itachi and Shisui, he truly worked hard in his training.

In Sasuke, he saw a few traces of his younger self.

Thus, without realizing it, a bond slowly formed.

He enjoyed this feeling as well. Now, he wanted to nurture Sasuke into an outstanding ninja.

In truth, he had always carried many regrets in his heart.

He had never properly spent time with either of his sons. He had always been busy with his career and, due to being too occupied, had neglected their upbringing and missed their growth.

As a result, his eldest son died young, leaving behind only an unborn child.

His younger son had also grown so much without him realizing it, and their relationship had become quite distant.

The three disciples he had carefully taught had likewise changed beyond recognition.

This was Hiruzen Sarutobi's pain.

The affection he inadvertently showed toward Sasuke—was it not also a reflection of his past regrets?

After all, children possessed a wondrous healing power.

They were healing each other in both directions.

And his biological grandson was already three years old. When he grew old, Sasuke, this good child, would surely take good care of Konohamaru...

Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts at that moment were infinitely close to those of an elderly old man.

Having thoroughly eliminated Konoha's future troubles, Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer held much interest in that supreme authority.

After all, Konoha had already been twisted into a single rope in his hands. What it needed next was time to mature.

The future belonged to the next generation as well.

He only needed to hand over this Konoha, the finest Konoha in his eyes, to the next generation of Hokage who inherited the Will of Fire.

What was gained in one corner was lost in another.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi began focusing his attention on Sasuke,

he no longer had much energy to pay attention to Naruto.

The young Naruto was currently drinking expired milk and eating expired instant noodles.

To Naruto, Iruka was a ray of dawn in the darkness, a drop of rain in the desert.

But Iruka's inner knot had not yet been untied by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

At this time, he hated Naruto beyond measure.

He had once had a happy family too.

But during the Nine-Tails Incident seven years ago, his parents had been killed by the Nine-Tails.

Seven years passed quickly for the happy, but for the sorrowful, they were slow and chaotic.

And in a sense, Naruto was the Nine-Tails.

His heart was filled with anguish.

On one hand, he was a teacher. As a teacher, he could not look at Naruto with the same strange gaze as those parents, nor could he suppress and reject Naruto like the other students did.

But every time he saw Naruto, he remembered the parents who had loved him dearly.

This undoubtedly left his already suffering heart even more riddled with wounds.

As for his attitude toward Naruto, he chose to ignore him.

He was avoiding the pain in his heart. If he could choose, he truly, truly did not want to see Naruto...

Inside the shabby little house, Naruto ate expired milk and expired bread, then unsurprisingly had diarrhea until he was completely drained...

Naruto weakly opened the refrigerator.

All he saw was emptiness.

"Grrrr..."

"Damn it, I'm hungry again... Why hasn't Grandpa Hokage come yet..."

Naruto had only barely filled his stomach earlier, but the food had upset it. After the diarrhea, his stomach was empty again, leaving him incredibly weak...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just as Naruto drank several large mouthfuls of water and lay weakly on his bed,

a knock came at the door.

"I'm coming!" Hearing the knock, Naruto gathered a little strength.

He knew it was the day his allowance was distributed.

So he had stayed home instead of going out. He wanted to get the money and treat himself to a delicious bowl of ramen.

"Grandpa Hokage, why are you so late today? I'm starving!"

Naruto opened the door with a happy smile.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the only person in Konoha who cared about him...

Only Hiruzen Sarutobi had never looked at him with strange eyes or pointed at him behind his back...

But when Naruto opened the door, he froze. The person before him was not Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It was a masked ninja...

"Here. This is your allowance for this month."

The masked man's tone was cold and impatient.

"Oh, oh. Thank you, big brother!"

Seeing the envelope in the other man's hand, Naruto hurriedly bowed in thanks.

After all, without this allowance, he might starve to death in this prosperous Konoha...

Looking at the little brat before him, the ANBU member's heart was ice-cold. His other hand, hidden beneath his robe, clenched into a fist.

His younger brother had died in the Nine-Tails Incident seven years ago, and the person before him was the Nine-Tails!

And countless people had died seven years ago. Especially people like them, who were not particularly strong—if that enormous beast so much as brushed against them, they would be crushed to pieces.

He wanted nothing more than to split this monster in half with one stroke of his sword.

But he remembered the orders from above.

Only after clenching and unclenching his fist several times did his emotions finally settle...

Watching the pitiful little brat prepare to take the envelope, the ANBU ninja's heart remained cold.

Naruto had suffered from malnutrition for years, leaving him small and frail.

He stretched out a hand so thin that it seemed to be nothing but bone, reaching for the envelope.

The chill around the ANBU grew even colder.

At last, he could not suppress the anger in his heart.

With one kick, he sent Naruto flying.

Naruto flew back several meters and crashed into the wall.

Naruto lay on the floor in pain, looking at the ANBU member in confusion, as though he did not understand why.

Fortunately, although the ANBU member was furious, he had not used too much force.

The ANBU ninja threw the envelope in his hand toward Naruto. Several bills burst from the torn envelope, scattering chaotically in the wind before slowly drifting down beside Naruto.

"Hmph! If you dare tell anyone about what happened today, don't blame me for showing no mercy."

Seeing Naruto's miserable state, some of the anger in the ANBU member's heart dissipated.

He then left behind those cold words before vanishing from the spot.

Naruto's eyes were filled with sorrow. He did not understand what had happened to this world.

Why did everyone else have parents who loved them, while he did not?

Why did everyone else have friends to play with, while he did not?

Why could everyone else buy what they wanted when they had money?

Yet even when he had money, no one was willing to sell him anything.

It was as if everyone avoided him like he was a plague.

After he repeatedly begged, only one shopkeeper had secretly agreed to sell him nearly expired milk and instant noodles.

Even that nearly expired milk and instant noodles cost almost half again as much as what they sold to others for.

He liked ramen not only because it was delicious, but also because the owner there never looked at him with strange eyes and secretly gave him a little extra every time...

But his monthly allowance was not much...

Naruto only felt that the warm sunlight was so blinding.

Especially the money scattered across the floor—it was more than half less than usual.

That made his already difficult life even worse.

"Can I survive this month..."

Having recovered a little, Naruto endured the pain and struggled to sit against the wall, staring blankly at the blazing sunlight streaming in through the doorway.

But at this moment, he only felt incomparably cold...

The blazing sun seemed to contain not a trace of warmth, taking away even more of the little warmth left in his heart.

An ANBU member in the shadows watched Naruto coldly, as though he had not seen his companion vent his anger moments ago.

If Naruto tried to report it to the Hokage, he would even warn Naruto himself.

After all, this monster Naruto had only survived until now because of the Hokage.

And the Hokage had recently gained a grandson, so he did not have much energy to pay attention to this side.

If some more time passed and the Hokage still did not pay attention here, he wanted to personally make a move in secret.

Naruto gathered up the scattered money from the floor with all his strength and held it against his chest.

He lay quietly on the floor.

The pain in his abdomen and the pain in his heart seemed to make it impossible for him to breathe.

He did not have the strength to climb onto the bed.

He only wanted to lie quietly on the floor for a while.

The sunlight streaming through the door slowly slipped away.

Naruto had a dream.

He dreamed of his father and mother.

Though he could not make out their faces, Naruto was very happy.

They even sat down and shared a meal together, laughing happily.

He truly did not ask for much...

An unknown energy in his mind slowly washed away the darkness in Naruto's heart, as it always had.

This was Ashura's will...

This was also why every generation of Ashura had never fallen into darkness. The first Ashura's will soothed the darkness in the heart of every generation of Ashura.

It even created beautiful illusions to fill the emptiness in their hearts...

But by Naruto's generation, Ashura's will was no longer as strong as before.

Moreover, this generation of Ashura had suffered a more tragic upbringing than any previous reincarnation of Ashura.

At present, the speed at which it soothed the darkness was far slower than the speed at which darkness devoured Naruto's heart.

Naruto's world seemed to be without light...

And Hiruzen Sarutobi's candlelight was rapidly dimming as well. Darkness was quickly spreading through his heart too...

No one knew when it would erupt completely...

That would be the moment Naruto fell into darkness...

"Hehe, Minato. I wonder whether you would find this scene amusing..."

Threads of red energy appeared within Naruto's body, silently helping him recover from his injuries.

But once Naruto's body had recovered to its usual frail state, it stopped.

Naruto's plight made it very happy. This was its only source of amusement in all these years.

Whenever Naruto suffered misfortune, it was overjoyed.

After being harmed by humans for thousands of years, its heart had become utterly cold.

Its heart was filled with hatred for humanity...

All of this seemed like a butterfly effect, and also like the world taking another path.