Konoha, Year 50
A lone, tiny figure darted through the bustling streets of Konoha. Instantly, the once-lively thoroughfare turned desolate. Men, women, and children alike recoiled, avoiding the small child as if he were carrying a plague.
Faint whispers followed him, like shadows clinging to his heels.
"That...it's here again."
"Seeing him is such bad luck. Every time I do, I get sick."
"It must be stealing your life force..."
"Why doesn't the freak just die already?"
"The Fourth Hokage died because of him..."
"Die..."
"Die..."
Vicious words mingled with cold indifference, disgust, and an almost palpable hatred.
Three years had passed since the Nine-Tails rampage.
Konoha had lost much in the chaos. Countless shinobi perished beneath the Kyuubi's devastating rampage. Countless others lost fathers, mothers, children.
Minato Namikaze, Konoha's hero, the Fourth Hokage-the man who had faced Iwagakure army alone rather than concede defeat-had also fallen that night, sacrificing himself to seal the Demon Fox.
Few knew his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, had died alongside him. Even fewer knew the Fourth Hokage and his wife had left behind a child.
Or perhaps, many did know.
But for reasons unspoken, complex and varied, no one ever mentioned it.
It was taboo.
A taboo understood by almost everyone.
The small figure finished weaving through the hostile crowd, quickly crossing the street and vanishing down a wooded path.
Behind him, the street slowly returned to its bustling rhythm, the tension easing as if a storm cloud had passed.
'Let's see what I've caught today.' Having crossed the street and followed the forest path, the small boy finally stopped by a stream. He bent down, reaching into the cool water. His reflection shimmered back: golden hair framing a small, determined face.
He lifted a segmented fish trap, crudely resembling a cage, from the water. Anyone familiar with foraging along riverbanks would recognize it-a simple net placed strategically to catch fish and shrimp. Sometimes, though, it caught stranger things.
'Naruto's treatment in the series wasn't this bad as I am experiencing, am I in AU or did the editors censor it? Konoha really sucks. Especially as an orphan, I still remember their faces, even as Kurama's claw impaling him, he had such a brilliant smile... Kushina was looking down at me with gentle warmth... If I had known that would be last time someone truly cared about me, I would have appreciated it more.'
'It's been three years since I arrived in this world. The villagers are absolute assholes. Six months ago, I left the little apartment they gave me and moved out here.'
'The longer I'm here, the more memories from my past life surface.'
Naruto stood, glancing back towards the bustling street he'd just fled. 'I hate it there. And they really don't like me. Yet I am not strong enough to run away.'
'I prefer it here. It's peaceful, surrounded by nature. Living off the land is tough, sure, but at least the food is normal.'
'No mold. No sour stench or rot. No... 'strange' ingredients.'
Naruto picked up the fish trap, carefully inspecting his haul. He'd found the net discarded by the river, tattered and useless, and painstakingly repaired it himself.
"Looks like grilled fish and crab for lunch," he murmured, a rare smile touching his lips.
Three small fish, each about ten centimetres long, and one palm-sized crab. Paired with some foraged wild vegetables and a bit of rice, it would make a decent meal.
He tipped the remaining small fry and shrimp from the trap into a simple pond he'd constructed from stones and mud-a makeshift larder to keep his catches fresh. Nearby sat a small, cultivated patch where he transplanted edible greens and roots found deeper in the woods. A tiny wooden hut, barely five square meters, housed a simple bed and a few changes of clothes.
This meagre setup was the entirety of Naruto's possession.
He efficiently killed, gutted, scaled, and began grilling the fish over a small fire. After finishing two fish and the crab, just as he reached for the last small fish, Naruto froze. He sensed a faint prickle of malice approaching from the distance.
It was a very, very faint malevolence, tinged with other, more complex emotions.
Malice Sensing. It was an innate ability Naruto possessed in this life. He'd discovered early on that his physical senses were exceptionally sharp, eventually developing this uncanny perception-the ability to feel the hostility directed towards him by nearby living beings.
It was the primary reason he'd moved out on his own at the tender age of three. It was why he couldn't stand being in the populated areas of Konoha. The sheer weight of the villagers' hatred felt suffocating, crushing him.
An old man wearing the red and white robes of the Hokage, a distinctive conical hat perched on his head and a pipe clenched between his teeth, slowly came into view.
The Third Hokage.
"Hello, Old Man Hokage," Naruto greeted him with an artificially sweet smile and a child-like voice.
The smile, however, felt practiced, rehearsed.
"Naruto," the Sandaime acknowledged, taking a puff from his pipe. He returned the smile, his eyes crinkling, though his cheerfulness seemed just as rehearsed as Naruto's. "I came to see how you were doing."
Naruto felt the faint malice emanating from the Hokage's Anbu hiding nearby intensify slightly. Along with slight anger emanating from Hokage as well.
'He's not happy I moved out,' Naruto noted silently.
"Grandpa, try this." Naruto held out the remaining grilled fish, tilting his head with a troubled expression. "It came out a little bitter, but it's still pretty good."
Hokage's expression softened, and the anger receded fractionally.
"So, Naruto," the Third Hokage began, taking the fish and nibbling on it, his tone carefully casual, "why did you decide to move out here?"
"Well... everyone dislikes me anyway," Naruto mumbled, lowering his head, his expression suddenly crestfallen. "So I figured... I should just leave."
The casual words, that lost expression tinged with a hint of resentment, were designed to tug at heartstrings.
'Feel guilty,' Naruto thought, watching the Hokage closely. 'Go on, feel guilty. As long as you feel guilty, maybe you'll let me live like this a little longer.'
Predictably, the Hokage reached out, patting Naruto's head with a touch of pity. The anger surrounding him lessened further.
Just as the Hokage opened his mouth to say something more, a dark-clad figure wearing an animal mask flickered beside him in a swirl of leaves. The Anbu agent leaned in, whispering urgently in the Hokage's ear. His expression shifted, hardening almost imperceptibly. He immediately stood. "I must go, Naruto."
With his enhanced senses, Naruto strained to catch the Anbu's words but only managed to grasp a few indistinct syllables before the Third Hokage turned and departed, the agent vanishing as quickly as he had appeared.
---
Later, in the Hokage Tower...
"Hiruzen, we cannot allow the Jinchuriki to remain outside our direct supervision for so long! The Nine-Tails is the village's ultimate weapon," an old man stated, his voice raspy. Bandages covered half his face and one arm, his single visible eye narrowed, his hand gripping a cane.
"We can't afford any... complications." Danzo Shimura. Konoha Elder. Master of the Root organization.
"If you lack the resolve, Hiruzen, then hand the boy over to me. My Root will shape him into the perfect instrument-"
"The Jinchuriki will not be handed over to you, Danzo," the Hokage interrupted sharply, his voice firm. "He is a child of Konoha, not your tool!"
"Hiruzen! Are you truly planning to monopolize the Jinchuriki's power for yourself-?"
"Enough!" Hokage slammed his hand on the desk, cutting Danzo off again. "Some lines will not be crossed!" His gaze was steely. "Do not forget, Danzo, I am the Hokage."
Danzo stared back, his single eye narrowed into a slit, the silence stretching taut between them. Finally, he spoke, his voice dripping with cold certainty. "You will regret this, Hiruzen."
With a sharp turn and a flick of his sleeve, Danzo swept out of the office.