Little Naruto, round as a dumpling, walked up the mountain path.
He did not understand what was happening today, why people had simply started cursing at him, why people had simply started hitting him.
I'm not the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.
Wait, Nine-Tails... were they talking about Kurama?
"Kurama, Kurama!"
Naruto called into the space.
"Hey, hey, keep it down. There are people around you."
Kurama's voice reached little Naruto's mind.
"Are you the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox those people were talking about?"
Naruto's voice was soft and sweet, tinged with sadness and accusation.
"Ah..."
"That's right. That would be me."
Seeing Kurama admit it, little Naruto pressed on.
"Did you kill a lot of people?"
Kurama fell silent for a while before his voice came again, a little fierce.
"So what if I did?"
"They wanted to seal me in here."
"They wanted to use my power to wage war."
"They wanted to kill more and more people."
"Why shouldn't I kill them?"
Little Naruto trembled. Still so young, he felt utterly at a loss.
What Kurama said seemed right, and besides, he was his friend.
But killing people...
"Hey, Naruto, let me explain."
Hashirama snatched the microphone from Kurama and began comforting little Naruto.
"Three years ago, a big bad guy hypnotized the Nine-Tails and controlled him, making him kill lots of people."
"Your... mom and dad died that night too."
"And after Kurama broke free of the big bad guy's control, he was sealed inside your body."
Light gradually returned to little Naruto's eyes. He pressed his lips together and asked,
"Kurama, is that true?"
His voice held a trace of hope.
"...Yes."
Kurama's mature voice came again.
"Yay!"
Naruto smiled happily.
"You're not going to keep questioning me?"
Kurama could not figure out how Naruto's mind worked. Children's thoughts did jump around, after all.
"No need. It was that big bad guy's doing anyway."
"I'll definitely drag that big bad guy out someday and tell those people he did it. It wasn't something Kurama wanted to do."
Little Naruto looked out over Konoha from the mountaintop. A little sweat had already gathered on his forehead, but his tiny face looked especially adorable in the sunlight.
"Do as you please."
Kurama's voice softened considerably.
"Well, well, there we go. Naruto, let's take a little side path back later."
"Why?"
"Because they don't know the big bad guy did it. You need to keep yourself safe."
"Oh."
He wandered around the mountain for a while. Although little Naruto's physique was constantly growing stronger, with natural energy from the air flowing into his body, he was still only a three-year-old child.
In the end, he ran out of strength halfway back and collapsed, but fortunately, the purple-haired Anbu appeared.
She gently picked little Naruto up and carried him back to the apartment.
Just as Uzuki Yugao was about to push the door open and leave, she noticed the instant noodle trash on the table.
"Ah."
With a soft sigh, she cleared the trash off the dining table, then went out and bought a fish.
After some simple cooking, a fragrant grilled fish was ready.
That smell!
It smells so good!
Little Naruto's nose twitched, and then his azure eyes opened. A familiar masked figure was sitting beside the dining table.
"Um, thank you, miss."
With Hashirama's reminder, Naruto learned that the young woman before him had brought him home.
Uzuki Yugao said nothing. She merely pointed at the fragrant grilled fish, then at Naruto.
"Is it for me?"
There was a trace of disbelief in little Naruto's eyes. After all, no one had cooked for him for several meals now. He had been eating instant noodles, with all his nutrition coming from the fruit Hashirama grew.
Behind her mask, Yugao nodded and gestured for little Naruto to dig in.
Little Naruto happily sat down at the table and clumsily picked up a crispy piece of fish with his chopsticks.
There aren't any bones!
Indeed, worried that little Naruto might choke on a bone, Yugao had made a point of removing them all.
Otherwise, it would be terrible if tomorrow's news in Konoha reported that a Jinchūriki had choked to death while eating fish.
"Sho yummy."
Little Naruto was won over by the delicious fish. After all, it was the tastiest thing he had eaten in all his three years.
There had been meat back at the orphanage, but it was an orphanage, after all.
The corners of Yugao's mouth curled into a faint smile beneath her mask, but she immediately suppressed it.
Once Naruto finished eating, Yugao prepared to leave.
She had done all this entirely of her own accord. Although the Third probably would not say anything if he found out, it still ran counter to his original goal.
But now that Naruto's identity as a Jinchūriki had been exposed, surely the Third would change his strategy.
I hope little Naruto can have a better life.
The moment Yugao rose to leave, little Naruto caught her hand and stopped her.
What strength. He's already as strong as a middle-year Ninja Academy student.
Is that what you'd expect of a Jinchūriki?
Yugao watched curiously through her mask as little Naruto began looking for something.
"Here, thank you for bringing me back, and thank you for the grilled fish."
"It was really delicious. It's the best thing I've ever eaten."
Little Naruto held Yugao's hand with his right hand and a hundred-ryo note in his left.
"For you."
Looking into little Naruto's azure eyes, Yugao saw a figure flash through her mind.
The Fourth...
Of course, she only thought it.
Yugao declined little Naruto's money, then stroked his golden hair and gave his little face a squeeze for good measure.
She left before little Naruto could react.
"Thank you! Come visit again!"
Little Naruto called out the window, making Yugao, who was hiding in a tree, smile happily.
"I told you there were still kind people in the village."
Hashirama looked smugly at the Nine-Tails.
In truth, both man and fox had been a little worried when little Naruto collapsed.
But the Anbu had soon appeared and taken little Naruto home.
Everything this purple-haired Anbu had done had earned her very high marks from Hashirama.
"Mito was just as gentle back then."
Hashirama reminisced.
"Gentle?"
The Nine-Tails spoke in disbelief.
That woman who whipped me with chains all day? That woman who simply took my chakra by force whenever I wouldn't give it to her?
You call her gentle?
Are you a masochist?!
No wonder you and Madara got up to such wild things back then.
"Hey, hey, hey, Kuraba, what's that supposed to mean?"
"It's Kurama! And I didn't mean anything. As long as you're happy."
Kurama was speechless and did not want to talk to this man whose brain was practically broken anymore.
"Think about what you're going to teach Naruto tonight. He'll be coming in soon."
Hearing that, Hashirama also remembered the task ahead.
He would let Kurama off for now, then.
Before you continue