Change

The streets of Konoha rang with laughter and cheerful chatter.

Not long ago, Konoha had finally signed a ceasefire agreement with Kumogakure. A measure of peace had returned to the village at last, bringing more smiles to the villagers' faces.

"That trip really took it out of me. Kumogakure's finally settled down. Where should we eat today?" A female Ninja stretched as she walked and chatted with her teammate, having just returned from a mission.

"Ramen," her teammate answered instantly.

"There you go again. Every time we get back to the village, you always go for ramen." The female Ninja sighed.

"But it really is good... Oof." Her teammate turned to explain the charms of ramen to her, only to bump into someone while he wasn't looking.

The small figure stumbled backward, but before the Ninja could reach out to catch him, he landed smoothly with a graceful back handspring, then straightened up.

"Nice moves!" The Konoha Ninja's eyes lit up, but he hadn't forgotten what he'd done. He hurried forward to apologize. "Sorry, kid. I wasn't watching where I was going, and I bumped into... you..."

When he got a clear look at the child, he froze instinctively.

The boy, however, seemed used to this sort of thing. He merely glanced up at him and casually said, "I'm fine."

Then he walked straight off under the Konoha Ninja's gaze.

Perhaps he had imagined it, but as they passed each other, he thought he faintly heard the boy mutter, "Ramen, huh."

"Hey, what's wrong?" His female teammate came over and gave him a pat.

"Oh, nothing. I just didn't expect to run into... that Demon Fox." A complicated expression crossed the face of the Konoha Ninja, who had become a Chunin the year before. His beloved mentor had died during the Nine-Tails' Attack four years ago. Naturally, he hadn't forgotten that grudge.

Still, he couldn't really muster much hostility toward this "incarnation of the Demon Fox," as Lord Hokage had called him. Having gone on missions outside the village since becoming a Ninja, he naturally knew more than those who stayed within its walls.

Compared with the true darkness of the shinobi world, what was a Demon Fox who was only a little child?

"So that's him?" The female Ninja blinked, studying the retreating blond boy's back with some curiosity. "Hmm, he doesn't look all that special. Come on, which ramen shop are we going to?"

"...I'm not in the mood anymore. Besides, it's so hot out..." The Chunin shook his head and let out a breath. "Forget it. How about I treat you to a proper feast?"

His female teammate was naturally even happier with that.

This was Naruto's everyday life.

Naruto had grown used to the different way the villagers treated him, but he no longer cared about it as much as before. Instead, he had begun pondering the problems with himself—

Over the past six months, a few strange things had happened to him.

For instance, whenever he fell asleep, he seemed to vaguely dream of a warm presence. That person always seemed to say a great deal to him in his dreams, but once he woke up, he couldn't remember a single thing the man had said.

And every time he woke up, he somehow found himself able to perform movements he hadn't known before.

Just like when he had been knocked off balance earlier. His body had naturally righted itself with a back handspring, as though it had experienced that situation countless times. It felt as if he had performed that move over and over, yet he had no memory of it.

Things that left Naruto feeling slightly out of sorts had been happening one after another lately.

For instance, things he had never seen before somehow felt familiar. There were even words he could read aloud despite not knowing the characters.

And... Naruto looked up, squinting at the sun that was nearly overhead, then at the many people sheltering from the heat beneath eaves and trees along the street. He didn't feel particularly hot at all.

Just as he hadn't felt cold when it snowed before.

He just didn't know why he was always so hungry when he woke up, as though he had been running for half a day.

"Grrrr..." His stomach chose that moment to growl.

A little embarrassed, Naruto rubbed his stomach and felt around in his pocket, coming up with only a few slightly grimy coins.

"Ugh." Remembering the ramen those two people had mentioned earlier, Naruto struggled to decide.

Someone from the village gave him financial assistance every month, but it wasn't much. At least, that was how it felt to Naruto now.

"These coins would buy five bread rolls, but if I want ramen..." Naruto sighed in frustration, standing there in indecision.

Meanwhile, inside Naruto's mental world, two others he knew nothing about were even more conflicted than he was, engaged in a not particularly heated discussion over his meals.

"There used to be a ninjutsu that used chakra to turn water and earth into edible food. It didn't taste very good, but it could fill your stomach. Quite a few people actually used it on the battlefield." Minato Namikaze considered the matter seriously. "If I start teaching him today, Naruto should be able to learn it by next month."

"No. Didn't we agree that you couldn't teach him ninjutsu yet? If Naruto uses a jutsu no one has ever seen at this point, it'll inevitably arouse unnecessary suspicion." The Nine-Tails rejected the idea outright, then rolled his eyes. "You're letting your concern as his father cloud your judgment. That Sarutobi brat isn't really going to leave Naruto without money for food."

"It's my fault for not saving any money to leave Naruto. If I hadn't listened to Kushina and had hidden some personal savings under the bed or something, I could have left it to him." Minato Namikaze continued berating himself, making the Nine-Tails roll his eyes and grumble inwardly.

That brat Minato is taking a roundabout jab at me. He says he blames himself for not saving money, but isn't he really blaming me for attacking Konoha back then?

"All right, just trust Naruto to sort this out himself. After all, only taijutsu training won't arouse suspicion." The Nine-Tails swished his tails, then asked, "As for Sealing Jutsu, as long as there's nowhere to actually use it, Naruto probably won't use it in the real world. And even if he does..."

"It'll be fine. What I'm teaching him is the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu. In Konoha, apart from the Third, probably only my teacher Jiraiya knows much about it," Minato explained. "Whatever their motives, neither of them would hurt Naruto. That much I can guarantee."

"Jiraiya, huh... Hmph, you don't need to tell me that." Hearing that name put the Nine-Tails at ease. When it came to Jiraiya's character, even the Minato Namikaze before him probably didn't understand the man as well as he did. After all, the Nine-Tails had witnessed all the days Jiraiya had once spent living and traveling alongside Naruto.

"Oh, right. Though I already know why you insist on teaching Naruto sealing-related techniques first, I still need to remind you." The Nine-Tails stressed it once more. "Don't let Naruto learn about our existence too early. It could bring a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Minato Namikaze watched the Nine-Tails settle back down inside the seal to rest after finishing his warning. His expression gave nothing away, but one question had been lingering in his mind—

The Nine-Tails had left all of Naruto's instruction to him, saying that he could give Naruto a tailed beast's power but didn't know how humans taught, which was why he wanted Minato to start with the basics... Yet Minato kept feeling that the Nine-Tails had more in mind than that.

If those enemies he described, as powerful as gods, really exist, why isn't he anxious at all?