The Seventh Hokage's voice carried across the darkening mountainside as he continued his story, recounting a childhood that felt both familiar and alien to the young Naruto listening intently beside him.
"The villagers hated me," the older man said quietly, staring at the fire-clouds streaking the western sky. "Because I was the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki. I was alone for as long as I can remember. No friends. No one to play with. Just... loneliness."
Young Naruto nodded slowly. That part, at least, was the same. The cold stares, the whispers, the parents pulling their children away. He remembered it all.
"The only difference," Naruto said, "is that I got lucky. A gift happen to appear in my life and pulled me out of that abyss."
The Seventh Hokage's swollen face managed something between a grimace and a smile. "Yeah, well, I wasn't that lucky. I had to grow on my own. So I... I started pulling pranks. Thought if I could just make people notice me, even if they were angry, at least they'd see me."
"Did it work?"
"Made them hate me more." The older Naruto laughed bitterly. "But I kept doing it anyway. What else was I supposed to do?"
Young Naruto stayed silent, recognizing the desperation in those words. Without the Ultimate Taijutsu System, without the path to strength, what else could a lonely child do but scream for attention in whatever way possible?
"I even invented this stupid jutsu," the Seventh Hokage continued, his voice carrying a note of embarrassment. "The Sexy Jutsu. Transformation technique combined with—well, you can imagine."
Young Naruto's eyes widened. "You created what?"
"Don't judge me! I was desperate and lonely and—look, it got reactions, okay?" The Seventh Hokage's face reddened beneath the swelling. "It was effective on certain people."
"That's..." Young Naruto struggled for words. "That's actually kind of pathetic."
"I know!" The older version groaned. "But without any real training, without anyone teaching me properly, I was just fumbling around trying anything that might work."
The young Naruto shook his head in disbelief. His entire childhood had been structured around systematic training, clear goals, measurable progress. The idea of being so lost, so directionless, was difficult to comprehend.
"It gets worse," the Seventh Hokage admitted.
"How could it possibly get worse?"
"I had a crush on Sakura Haruno."
Young Naruto's jaw dropped. "What?"
"I know, I know—"
"Sakura? Haruno Sakura? The girl with the forehead that could reflect sunlight?" Young Naruto stared at his older self in genuine shock. "That Sakura?"
The Seventh Hokage winced. "Your world's Sakura is different?"
"My Sakura is fine, I guess, but I'd never—" Young Naruto cut himself off. "Wait, you said you had a crush on her. Past tense?"
"I married Hinata," the older man said defensively. "Obviously my taste improved."
"Obviously," young Naruto muttered. Then something occurred to him. "Wait. You said you tried the Transformation Jutsu on her?"
The Seventh Hokage's face went even redder. "I... may have transformed into Sasuke to try and get a kiss from her."
"YOU WHAT?!"
"I was twelve and stupid! Thankfully I got food poisoning from expired milk that day and couldn't go through with it, or I would have actually kissed—" He shuddered. "I try not to think about it."
Young Naruto processed this information with growing horror. "Have you told Hinata about this?"
The Seventh Hokage's good eye widened in alarm. "Are you insane? Of course not! If I had a body like yours, maybe I'd have the courage to confess something that embarrassing, but—"
He stopped, glancing at young Naruto's physique with obvious envy.
Young Naruto blinked, then casually extended his ki and blood sensing to examine the older version more thoroughly. After a moment, he understood the implication and nearly laughed.
No wonder he's worried, Naruto thought, suppressing a grin. His own development, courtesy of years of Ultimate Taijutsu training and proper nutrition, had been... substantial. The kind of substantial that had left Terumi Mei with a sore throat after their "sparring session."
Of course, that was Terumi Mei from his world—young, beautiful, and eager to learn vibration techniques. Not the aged "Aunt Terumi" from this timeline who'd made him destroy half of Kirigakure in disgust.
"Anyway," the Seventh Hokage continued, seemingly unaware of young Naruto's thoughts, "after that mess, there was the Academy graduation exam. I failed it. Three times."
"You failed the graduation exam?" Young Naruto couldn't hide his disbelief. In his world, graduation had been a formality. He'd barely paid attention to the requirements.
"Failed spectacularly," the older man confirmed. "The third time, Mizuki-sensei tricked me into stealing the Scroll of Seals—"
"Mizuki." Young Naruto's expression darkened. "That's a name I haven't thought about in a while."
"You knew him?"
"He tried to become my friend." Young Naruto's tone carried layers of meaning. "Emphasis on tried. It didn't work out. His hand was never the same after catching my fist."
The Seventh Hokage wisely didn't ask for details.
"So after I finally became a genin," he continued, "Kakashi-sensei tested us with the bell test. We were complete rookies, and he... well, he played with us like toys."
"Kakashi-sensei did that to me too," young Naruto said. "Though I think his experience was different."
"Did he use Thousand Years of Death on you?"
Young Naruto's eyes lit up with sudden interest. "What's that like?"
The Seventh Hokage paused mid-sentence, giving his younger self a suspicious look. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm curious." Naruto kept his expression perfectly innocent. "I never learned that technique from Kakashi-sensei. He was too busy recovering from broken fingers to teach me anything."
"You want to... try it?" The Seventh Hokage's swollen face managed to convey deep skepticism.
"Really?" Young Naruto leaned forward eagerly. "You know how to do it?"
A slow, vindictive smile spread across the older man's battered features. Still too young, he thought triumphantly. After beating me for an hour, now it's my turn for revenge.
"I learned it from Kakashi-sensei," the Seventh Hokage said, trying to keep the glee from his voice. "If you really want to try it, I'd be happy to help. We're both ourselves, after all. No need to be shy."
"Great!" Young Naruto immediately stood and turned around, presenting his posterior. "Go ahead! Use your full strength. Don't hold back on my account."
The Seventh Hokage could barely contain his joy. This idiot actually fell for it! After an hour of getting his face rearranged, he'd finally get some payback.
He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the protests from his battered body. His fingers aligned in the classic hand seal—Tiger, with the index and middle fingers extended.
"Konoha Secret Technique: Thousand Years of Death!"
With all the vindictive satisfaction of a man who'd been thoroughly humiliated and was finally getting revenge, the Seventh Hokage thrust both hands forward, aiming four fingers directly at young Naruto's posterior.
CRACK.
The smile froze on the Seventh Hokage's face.
Pain exploded through his fingers. Not the mild discomfort of hitting something hard—the sharp, nauseating agony of bones snapping like dry twigs.
"Hisssss!" He jerked his hands back, gasping. His fingers were bent at unnatural angles, already swelling.
It had been like stabbing a steel plate. No, worse. Steel would have at least given a little. This was like trying to pierce solid diamond with chopsticks.
"Are you okay?" Young Naruto turned around, his face showing nothing but innocent concern. He glanced down at the Seventh Hokage's mangled fingers and spread his hands apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't feel anything. Kakashi-sensei's hands looked like that too after the bell test. I guess my defense works better than I thought."
The Seventh Hokage stared at his younger self, realization crashing through him like a bucket of ice water.
He'd been played.
Completely.
"Naruto," he said through gritted teeth, "how old are you?"
The question had been burning in his mind since the beginning. This person who looked like him but stood taller, fought stronger, lived better. How old could he possibly be?
"I'm twelve," young Naruto said cheerfully. "Almost thirteen. Why?"
Twelve.
The word hit like a kunai to the chest.
The Seventh Hokage felt something break inside him that had nothing to do with his fingers. When he was twelve, he'd still been struggling through the Academy, failing tests, pulling pranks for attention. Short, scraggly, the dead-last of his class.
And this version of himself? Fifth Hokage at twelve. Nearly invincible. Tall and handsome with perfect muscle development.
Had friends.
Real friends.
Not just people who tolerated him, but people he'd earned through strength and determination.
This is someone else's twelve years old, the Seventh Hokage thought numbly.
"What's wrong?" Young Naruto asked, noticing the shift in his older self's expression. "You suddenly seem sad."
"I'm not sad," the Seventh Hokage said quickly, turning his head away. "Just... windy up here."
He sniffed, his nose still sore from the beating, and tried to collect himself.
Young Naruto watched him quietly, sensing the genuine pain beneath the deflection. This wasn't physical pain. This was something deeper.
The pain of a life spent struggling when another path could have been so much easier.
After a moment, the Seventh Hokage turned back, his expression carefully neutral despite the swelling. "Okay," he said. "Let's continue. After I finish my story, can you tell me about your growth? How you became so strong?"
He paused mid-sentence, his face darkening as imagination filled in the blanks. Young Naruto's life had probably been a series of triumphant victories, systematic progression, and early achievements. Everything the Seventh Hokage's life wasn't.
"Actually," he corrected himself quickly, "you don't need to talk about your experiences."
"You sure?" Young Naruto asked gently.
"I'm sure." The Seventh Hokage managed a weak smile. "Let's just... stick with my story. It's painful enough without comparing it to what could have been."
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