Hokage Office – Hokage Building.
Naruto stood before the Third Hokage, holding his freshly completed ninja registration form.
At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, examining the form with Naruto's photo printed on it. As he looked at Naruto's beaming smile, an old, familiar face flashed in his mind.
"Minato…"
For a brief moment, Hiruzen felt a wave of nostalgia. Naruto's expression reminded him so vividly of the Fourth Hokage—Namikaze Minato.
That nostalgic warmth, however, was quickly overshadowed by something else: guilt.
Yes, he felt some remorse toward Minato and Kushina… for what he had done to their only son.
But that guilt soon dissolved into the convenience and control Naruto's existence provided.
He didn't regret his choices.
Everything he did was for the sake of the Sarutobi clan.
"All right, Naruto. From today onward, you're officially a shinobi of Konoha," Hiruzen said with a smile, stamping the document.
"Keep working hard. One day, you'll become Hokage."
Naruto gave his brightest, most sincere smile and thanked the Hokage earnestly—his acting flawless. He promised to keep working toward becoming Hokage.
Just then—
BANG!
The office door slammed open.
"Gramps! Let's spar!" Konohamaru burst in energetically, holding a stack of shuriken.
Then, without warning—
THUD!
He tripped over his own feet and faceplanted on the ground.
Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Here comes the troublesome one…
Konohamaru rubbed his forehead, muttering, "It must've been a trap!" He was dead certain that something—anything—other than his own clumsiness was to blame.
Right on cue, his tutor, Ebisu, entered the room, pushing up his glasses.
"Master Konohamaru, are you all right?" Ebisu asked in a panic. "There's no trap here!"
Then his gaze landed on Naruto.
His lips curled with disdain.
"Tch… That damned Nine-Tails brat. I can't stand this kid."
Even without words, Naruto's sharp perception picked up on Ebisu's disgust.
If it were just civilians manipulated by rumors from the higher-ups, Naruto could understand their ignorance.
But Ebisu was a jōnin, a professional ninja. He knew exactly who Naruto was and what he carried.
He knew Naruto hadn't chosen to become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. And yet, he still looked at Naruto with hatred.
Naruto inwardly scoffed.
The entire shinobi corps must be brainwashed by the Third. That's the only explanation for how useless they've become.
Meanwhile, Konohamaru scanned the room, then turned to Naruto—the only person here who wasn't a Konoha elder.
"You! You set the trap!"
He stormed up to Naruto, finger pointed in accusation.
Naruto stared at the kid, disgust flashing briefly in his eyes before he masked it with a smile.
He knew Konohamaru didn't understand anything. He was just a kid.
But so was Naruto.
He had just graduated from the Academy too.
Yet, no one ever treated him like a child. They treated him like a monster.
So why should he give this brat special treatment?
If a kid's annoying, then they're annoying. It's that simple.
And when someone else says, "Why argue with a child?"—Naruto's suggestion was this:
Let them be tormented by a child first. Then say the same thing again.
With a straight face, Naruto walked up to Konohamaru and grabbed him by the collar.
"Hey. You tripped over your own feet. And now you're blaming me?"
Ebisu's eyes widened.
"Unforgivable! Uzumaki Naruto, let Master Konohamaru go immediately! He's the Hokage's grandson!"
Naruto almost laughed.
Hokage's grandson? So what? I'm your grandpa, then.
Konohamaru smirked smugly as Ebisu yelled. His expression said:
You won't dare touch me. I'm the Hokage's grandson.
But Naruto wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
He didn't care.
Even if he punched Konohamaru to the ground, what could the Third do?
He was just a kid too. Kids fought all the time.
So—
BAM!
Naruto clocked Konohamaru with a clean punch that sent him crashing to the ground.
Silence fell over the room.
Ebisu was dumbfounded, frozen in place.
Behind the desk, the Third Hokage leaned on his hands, his face caught between shock and helplessness.
"Oh… my… god…"
...
After easily dealing with Konohamaru, Naruto bid farewell to the Third Hokage.
Now that his registration as a genin of Konoha was complete, the next step was to attend the Ninja Academy for three more days of orientation. After that, he and his fellow graduates would be assigned to jonin instructors, forming three-man squads under the guidance of elite ninja.
These jonin would take their squads on missions—real ones—and slowly help them grow into true shinobi.
For now, though, Naruto left the Hokage's office and started heading home to rest.
He didn't expect that the brat he'd just knocked down, Konohamaru, would come tailing after him.
Even without trying, Naruto noticed the terrible stalking attempt. Frankly, even a civilian could spot this kind of clumsy tracking.
In the original timeline, Naruto had humored the Hokage's grandson and played along with his little "ninja game."
But that was a different Naruto.
This Naruto wasn't in the mood.
He ignored Konohamaru and continued on his way.
However...
A few steps later, Konohamaru suddenly lunged, trying to sneak attack him—clearly thinking he'd found a weakness.
Naruto's brow twitched in annoyance.
His body moved instinctively. With a casual sidestep, he dodged the clumsy attack with ease.
Konohamaru looked dumbfounded.
He had heard Uzumaki Naruto was the most unruly, infamous troublemaker in the Academy. But this... this kind of strength?
"I, Konohamaru, acknowledge you!" the boy shouted, full of fire. "If I can beat you, then one day I'll beat my grandfather too!"
So that was it.
This wasn't about Naruto. This was Konohamaru working through his inferiority complex.
Naruto didn't bother responding.
He just walked past him.
"Hey! Hey! I'm talking to you!" Konohamaru yelled. "Didn't you hear me?!"
When he saw Naruto ignore him entirely, he was shocked.
Nobody in Konoha ignored him. Not the villagers, not the ninja. No one.
But this guy—this guy really didn't care.
Konohamaru kept chasing after him.
Twice. Then a third time.
By the fourth, Naruto had had enough.
There's only so much buzzing a fly can do before you swat it.
When Konohamaru appeared in front of him again, Naruto didn't hesitate.
Bang!
His fist landed right on the kid's forehead.
A massive red bump formed instantly.
Konohamaru just stood there, stunned. He reached up and touched the swelling, his eyes wide in disbelief.
And then he started crying.
"Owwwwww! That hurts!"
Naruto looked down at him coldly.
Then came the jab—sharper than the punch.
"You've always done whatever you wanted, haven't you? You ignore what other people think just to get what you want. You say you hate being the Hokage's grandson, but that's the only reason you get away with it."
He narrowed his eyes.
"If you weren't the Hokage's grandson… you'd be nothing."
Konohamaru's sobs faltered.
He looked up at Naruto, stunned.
For the first time in his life, someone truly didn't care that he was the Third Hokage's grandson.
That look in Naruto's eyes—completely indifferent—was something Konohamaru had never seen before.
But if he'd experienced even a fraction of what Naruto had, maybe he'd understand.
From the moment he was born, Naruto had been branded.
Scorned.
Feared.
Every day, from infancy to now, Naruto had lived under the weight of the villagers' stares. The whispers. The cruelty.
And after awakening his enhanced perception—what he jokingly referred to as his "Mind's Eye"—he saw the truth even more clearly.
That hatred and fear wasn't going away.
It was rooted deep.
Naruto no longer deluded himself into thinking he could "win them over" like in the original timeline.
Let them keep hating.
That was better.
Better than letting his heart soften.
He didn't believe in turning the other cheek.
He believed in returning what he got—a hundredfold.
And right now, the brat in front of him needed to learn that lesson.
At that moment, Konohamaru's tutor, Ebisu, came running onto the scene.
"Young Master! Are you alright?!"
He rushed to Konohamaru's side and helped him up, brushing off the dust on his clothes and checking him for injuries.
His face tightened when he saw the big bump on the boy's head—and the tear tracks on his cheeks.
Ebisu was furious. This damn Nine-Tails brat actually dared to hit Konohamaru—and made him cry!
"You damn Nine-Tails!"
"How dare you lay a hand on Master Konohamaru!"
"Apologize to him immediately!"
Ebisu stormed over, his face twisted in anger as he glared at Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't care about what led up to this moment. All he saw was Konohamaru injured—and that was enough for him.
After all, this was him—the demon fox.
It had to be his fault.
Naruto looked at the unreasonable Ebisu. And though, yes, it was indeed his punch that brought Konohamaru to tears...
Sorry.
Naruto wasn't a reasonable person either.
He only respected strength.
So, with a cold smirk, Naruto didn't say a word. He didn't even bother acknowledging Ebisu's outburst.
He simply glanced at the man.
That one glance was enough.
To Ebisu—a trained Konoha jōnin—it was as if he'd just stared into a living nightmare. His entire body felt like it had been dropped into an icy pond. His breath caught, limbs shivering uncontrollably.
It wasn't just a glare.
It was like the Nine-Tailed Fox itself had looked straight through his soul.
"N-No..." Ebisu muttered, stepping back instinctively. His face had gone pale.
But in the next second, that overwhelming pressure vanished. Naruto's expression was calm once again—almost disinterested.
Had he imagined it?
Ebisu stood frozen, unsure if what he felt was real or some illusion born from fear.
Naruto scoffed silently at his reaction.
He hadn't done anything special—just let a fraction of his spiritual pressure leak out.
And that alone had frightened a fully trained Konoha jōnin.
Seems like these so-called "elites" weren't all that impressive after all—not compared to someone like Kakashi Hatake, anyway.
Naruto withdrew his gaze and turned to leave. He didn't spare another glance at Ebisu or Konohamaru.
Ebisu watched him go, still shaken.
He didn't know whether what he saw had really happened, or if he'd simply imagined it all.
Three days later.
Naruto woke early.
The morning sun streamed through his window, casting golden rays across the room. He sat up, feeling—strangely—that today might not be so bad.
After washing up, he went into the kitchen and whipped up a solid breakfast using the cooking skills he had honed in solitude. Once done, he dressed in a clean set of black clothes, secured his ninja tool pouch, and tied the Konoha forehead protector tightly across his brow.
It was time.
As he stepped outside and headed toward the Ninja Academy, he began to hear the whispers again—ugly words slithering through the air like venomous snakes.
"That damn fox actually graduated from the Academy?"
"Unbelievable. If that monster becomes a real Konoha ninja, what the hell is the Third Hokage thinking?"
"I just hope he dies on a mission. Then we won't have to worry about him lurking around anymore."
"Yeah! It'd be great if some rogue ninja just wiped him out in the field."
"Haha! May that damn fox meet his end soon!"
These weren't quiet mutters. They weren't slips of the tongue. They were loud, shameless curses spat in broad daylight.
And Naruto heard them all.
He heard the villagers' disgust.
He felt the malice in their words.
But it didn't break him.
Not anymore.
He kept walking, calm as ever, until he reached the Academy.
The same building where he'd spent the last six years of his life, being ignored, scorned, mocked.
He entered the classroom.
Most of the students were already there. Just a few stragglers.
Naruto walked past them, gave a nod to Hinata, Shikamaru, and the others, and then found his seat.
He waited.
Soon, Iruka entered the room, holding a sheet of paper—the assignment list.
"All right, everyone. Settle down."
The classroom quieted.
Iruka continued, "Starting today, you'll be assigned to three-man teams. Each of you will have a jonin-sensei to guide you. You'll complete missions under their supervision and continue your growth as genin from there."
...
TN:
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