Chapter 23 - Encountering the Second Hokage
"Sensei, this could actually kill someone!"
Little Naruto crept slowly along the trunk of the enormous tree.
He made the mistake of glancing downward —and watched the ground far below gradually disappear into the distance.
"Don't worry! Just keep running toward me!"
Hashirama stood on a branch high above, calling down encouragingly.
He'd chosen this height deliberately close enough to push Naruto, far enough that he'd need precise chakra control to make it. And Kurama was down below to catch him if he fell, so what was the problem?
"Ahhhh~~~"
Little Naruto never made it to Hashirama's branch. One moment of lost concentration, and he was falling light as a feather, fast as a stone.
This beast. Naruto is THREE years old. Does Hashirama not understand what that means?
Kurama sighed and transformed the outer layer of its chakra into a net to catch him.
Thud.
Little Naruto hit the chakra net — and promptly vanished back into the real world.
*...?*
Hashirama stared at the empty net and looked at Kurama with a puzzled expression.
Wasn't he supposed to catch him safely?
Why did Naruto just leave?
"Hey! What's with that look on your face?!"
Kurama glared at Hashirama and explained slowly.
"This was not a catching failure on my part. Little Naruto couldn't withstand the impact of falling from that height his consciousness was knocked back out of the sealed space."
Hashirama stroked his chin and nodded sagely.
"I see. So this is Tobirama's fault after all he didn't account for the physical and emotional limitations of young children when he designed this training."
Tobirama, from the afterlife: I designed this for Ninja Academy students who are about to graduate. With excellent grades. Who are at least ten years old. Why don't you ask them?
Kurama watched Hashirama smoothly redirect all blame onto his deceased younger brother and offered a moment of silent mourning for Tobirama.
"Right then tomorrow night, let's start with some basics first, or at least lower the starting height."
And just like that, Hashirama cheerfully finalized the next evening's training plan.
Kurama lay back down to catch a few more minutes of sleep.
---
The next morning, little Naruto jolted awake.
"HELP!!!"
His mind had immediately replayed the fall.
The nearby ANBU agents heard the shout and rushed to check on the Jinchuriki.
"He's fine. Just a nightmare."
One agent assessed the situation calmly.
"Could it be leftover trauma from Might Guy yesterday?"
Another agent the one Yugao had assigned to file the incident report wondered aloud.
Little Naruto pressed a hand to his chest. He seemed to actually be fine.
So his teacher really hadn't lied to him after all.
Naruto was, by nature, fairly resilient. Despite the miniature bungee jump from the night before, his fear was already fading.
He was a child — as long as it hadn't hurt too badly, it wouldn't leave a permanent mark.
...Unlike a certain green-suited Acorn Kappa, whose impact on his psyche showed no signs of fading whatsoever.
---
Today, little Naruto had decided to go to the park.
There might be some unfriendly kids there. But none of them could beat him.
Heh heh heh. Stupid villagers — the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has arrived!!!
Little Naruto marched purposefully toward the park that wasn't usually too crowded — mostly just children his age.
He'd arrived early, so the place was still fairly quiet.
There was only one small figure already there a boy sitting alone on a swing, drifting back and forth in silence.
That kid...
Little Naruto tilted his head.
He looked like an Uchiha.
He vaguely remembered seeing him on the street once before, but that time his older brother had been right beside him.
Today, the older brother was nowhere in sight.
Heh heh. No older brother around. Maybe I can mess with him.
"Hey, kid! What gives you the right to hog my swing?!"
The words came out before Naruto had really thought them through. He'd gotten used to talking like this after facing down all those villagers who called him names.
Worth noting little Naruto made plenty of verbal threats, but rarely threw the first punch. He only got physical when someone else started it.
Like when Hinata had been surrounded. He'd felt that was genuinely wrong, and stepped in.
He just hadn't controlled his strength especially well, and had accidentally broken the other boy's nose.
Medical ninjutsu in Konoha was quite advanced though. Probably fine.
Sasuke still at an age where he hadn't yet developed the signature Uchiha attitude — was quietly swinging when Naruto's shout reached him.
His older brother had an ANBU mission today and couldn't spend time with him. He hadn't expected to run into anyone here.
As the son of the Uchiha clan head, Sasuke had already begun basic taijutsu training under Itachi's guidance, despite being only three years old.
And with the Uchiha clan's long-held belief that Heaven was first, Earth was second, and the Uchiha were third — he certainly wasn't intimidated by some random blond kid.
"What do you mean 'yours'? Is your name written on it?"
Sasuke stopped swinging. He didn't get off.
He simply sat there, looking down at little Naruto with mild disdain.
Perfect. I was bored. Now there's something interesting.
That was little Sasuke's honest assessment of the situation.
---
Wait — shouldn't he have screamed 'The Nine-Tails is here!' and run away, leaving the swing for me?
Little Naruto hadn't expected this.
"Little Naruto, why don't you play with him?"
Hashirama suggested from the sealed space, a slightly mischievous look on his face.
He could see something familiar in Sasuke's expression.
Tobirama, somewhere in the afterlife: Ah yes. The Uchiha. Let me consult my notes on that.
"Hmm... no. I have to claim that swing first."
Little Naruto was tempted, but put on a show of stubbornness.
He walked straight up to the swing, bit his thumb, and under Sasuke's increasingly bewildered stare wrote his name directly on the swing's wooden seat in blood.
"See? Look carefully. My name is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"The future Hokage of Konoha!"
He licked his thumb. His healing had already sealed the bite.
The last character of his name had smudged slightly in the process.
"Nonsense!
The next Hokage is obviously going to be my older brother!"
Sasuke had been briefly caught off guard by the display.
But hearing Naruto's declaration snapped him right back.
"Naruto Uzumaki?
Never heard of you. How could someone like you ever become Hokage?"
Naruto blinked.
Never heard of him?
He was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki the living legend of Konoha. What child in this village didn't know his name?
"Hmph! Fine, I'll be generous and inform you: I am the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox that tore through Konoha three years ago! A ferocious, untameable demon fox who doesn't hesitate for even a second!"
Little Naruto planted his hands on his hips and let out his best villainous laugh.
"HEY! HASHI-MAMA!!!"
Kurama's voice cracked slightly.
"Did you teach little Naruto to say that while I wasn't looking?!"
It had been under someone else's control back then. It had not actually eaten anyone. Little Naruto's vocabulary was absolutely not advanced enough to come up with phrasing like that on his own.
The only possible culprit was the scheming, tree-growing, horse-riding madman who had been living in Naruto's seal this whole time.
Senju Hashirama!!!
Hashirama slowly turned his head away and stared at the far wall of the sealed space for a long, long moment.
Then, very quietly:
"...Hehe."
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End of Chapter..