"You pulled him in, right?"
"Quit nagging. With me on the job, it was a piece of cake."
Caught in a nightmare, little Naruto faintly heard two voices: one warm yet unfamiliar, the other irritable but slightly timid.
Where am I?
Looking at the dark world before him, little Naruto could not help panicking.
"Hey, Nine-Tails! Keep your chakra under control!"
A grown man's voice came from behind little Naruto, and he turned to look.
Help!
Grandpa Director, help! There's a monster here!
Little Naruto froze in place, his bright blue eyes filled with fear.
But just then, a large hand gently settled on Naruto's head, and words of comfort followed.
"Hey, little Naruto. Don't be afraid."
Little Naruto turned his gaze toward the man.
Uh... he looks kind of familiar. I think I've seen him before.
"Who are you?"
Naruto sounded a little shy around the stranger, while also fearing the huge monster in the distant cage.
"I'm Hashirama Senju! Konoha's First Hokage!"
Hashirama struck a dashing pose, the most striking one he had come up with while trying them out with Madara in the past.
"So lame..."
Naruto found Hashirama's strange pose painfully uncool, but he quickly caught on.
"The First Hokage? The Hokage Grandpa Director always talks about, who protects everyone and is acknowledged by everyone?"
Seeing little Naruto's eyes light up, Hashirama decisively ignored that very quiet remark from a moment ago and nodded in satisfaction.
"Little Naruto, do you want to become Hokage?"
Hashirama knew little Naruto's background, entirely thanks to the information the Nine-Tails had so "kindly" provided.
Hashirama did not know whether he should tell the child about his background. After all, Monkey's current intention was to keep it hidden.
But Monkey really had gone a little too far, throwing a three-year-old child out to live alone. And this was the Fourth's child, no less.
"Yes!"
For a moment, little Naruto forgot his fear of the Nine-Tails and proudly puffed out his chest, his round face utterly adorable.
Blue eyes?
The Nine-Tails discreetly glanced at little Naruto's bright blue eyes.
Who knows?
"Good. From now on, I'll teach you how to become an outstanding Hokage."
Hashirama was delighted. He had not expected his young successor to have such lofty ambitions at so early an age.
"Starting today, I'm your teacher."
Just like that, two incarnations of Asura forged a bond as master and student, and a connection from a higher plane formed between them.
Little Naruto jumped up happily, then caught sight of the Nine-Tails' terrifying gaze and shrank back again.
"Teacher, what's that monster? Why is he locked up?"
"Oh, oh, oh! Whoops, I forgot to introduce him."
"He's called the Nine-Tails, a Tailed Beast with terrifying power."
Hashirama suddenly remembered that he had not yet introduced Naruto to the Nine-Tails, so he pointed at him as he spoke.
"Hey! I'm not called the Nine-Tails!"
The Nine-Tails shouted angrily, his nine orange-red tails waving furiously behind him.
"I have a name!"
In truth, among the humans of the past, those who were too weak did not deserve to know his name, while those who were too strong thought nothing of him at all (a pointed criticism here of the red-eye affliction, adamantine chains, and big wooden gates).
Besides, over the long years, the Nine-Tails had already witnessed humanity's evil and gradually lost interest in communicating with humans.
But the child before him was very likely the Child of Prophecy the old man had spoken of.
Then I suppose I'll reluctantly make do and tell him my name.
"Listen well! My name is Kurama!"
Hashirama turned to stone, staring at the Nine-Tails... no, Kurama, in utter disbelief.
"You... you actually have a name!"
The finger Hashirama pointed at the Nine-Tails was trembling. My goodness, after all this time, I never even knew the Nine-Tails had a name.
Mito never mentioned it back then, either!
"Heh."
Kurama paid the two of them no further attention and lay down to continue sleeping.
By now, little Naruto's mind had reached the limit of how long it could remain here, and the feeling that he was about to wake up was bouncing around in his head.
"Little Naruto, we'll meet again tomorrow night. I'll teach you how to mold chakra then."
Hashirama watched little Naruto gradually fade away, his face covered in smiles.
Little Naruto sprang upright on his bed and woke up.
He stared groggily at his hands. The First Hokage, Kurama... was it a dream?
Whatever. I'll find something to eat first.
He skipped over to the refrigerator and took out fresh milk and instant noodles.
At that moment, Hashirama frowned. Eating instant noodles first thing in the morning was not good.
Pale green chakra brimming with vitality flowed out of Naruto's belly, and a fruit grew on the potted plant in the little apartment.
!
What's going on?!
Little Naruto could not believe his eyes!
A faint voice drifted through his mind.
"Little Naruto, eat this. It's healthier."
The spot was very carefully chosen: the Anbu outside could not see it, and the Third was not using the Telescope Technique to watch little Naruto right now.
After happily eating the fruit, Naruto left the little apartment and began his aimless wandering for the day.
Today was his first time leaving the area around the orphanage, entering an entirely new environment.
After wandering around for a while, little Naruto grew tired, so he simply found a shady spot to lie down and stared blankly at the sky, still thinking about last night's dream.
In the distance, a little pink-haired girl and a little blonde girl walked together, laughing and playing.
She's so cute.
Pink hair, wow.
But little Naruto was not yet as bold as he would be later, and only dared to watch the girl from afar.
Meanwhile, the Third arrived at little Naruto's apartment.
"Little Naruto, Grandpa's here to bring you some money."
The Third entered Naruto's apartment carrying a not particularly thick envelope and a few introductory books suitable for young children.
Unfortunately, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
"Yugao?"
The Third called toward the window, and a figure leaped into Naruto's apartment.
"Lord Third."
"Where did Naruto go?"
The Third's tone was quite kindly, but a cold glint flashed through his narrowed eyes.
"He went for a walk around East Street. Fox is following him."
"I see."
The Third nodded, rubbed his eyes, and sighed.
"Then leave the things here. When little Naruto comes back, pose as a passerby and let him know."
The Third gave these brief instructions, then turned and left.
He still had plenty to do. It had only been two years since the Shinobi World War ended, and there were still many affairs of government for him to handle.
And then there was his old friend Danzo, who was starting to get restless again.
Before you continue