Chapter Text
Keeping track of how long he’d been in this new world was hard when Naruto didn’t even know what year it was. The city had clocks and shit, but he’d only gotten a look at a calendar once or twice, and that just marked the months. The cake in front of him was more useful than all of that shit combined for the giant number three shaped candle in its center.
“Happy Birthday, Naruto-kun!”
The old man set the cake down on the table, and suddenly being called to his office outside of their designated tea time made a lot more sense. Naruto looked at the calendar first, saw it was the tenth day of the tenth month, and allowed himself to smile, because this was the nicest thing anyone had bothered to do for him since he’d been reborn by…a pretty depressing margin actually. Those Nannies really sucked.
“Heh, finally remembered what day it was Sandaime-Oji?” He teased as he walked up to the table and dropped into his seat. The old man chuckled, though there was an edge of guilt in his face as he pulled a knife from somewhere on his person and went to cut the cake.
“I would have celebrated your first two birthdays with you if I had the time, Naruto-kun,” He said, and Naruto rolled his eyes as he snatched his plate and held it out for the old man to put a slice of cake on.
“Yeah yeah, I know how busy you are,” Naruto waved off, because now that he was wandering more often, he’d seen just how much time the Hokage spent running between meetings and doing paperwork. It made the ‘strongest in the village’ thing a little bit harder to believe when it looked more like he was trapped behind a desk all day, but the old man carried himself with the sort of weary strength he’d seen in the pros all around him during the war. Didn’t mean he still didn’t wanna see what the old man could do though…
Speaking of which.
“You can make up for it by showin’ me how strong you are, dattebayo” Naruto said, ignoring the stupid ass tic at the end of his sentence as the Hokage less set and more let fall a slice of cake onto his plate. It fell with a slight splat that ruined the icing. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the old Man, who was looking at him with more than a little surprise, and Naruto scoffed. “What, ya think I’m just gonna take you at your word?”
And the old man laughed at that, full enough that he threw his head back. Naruto rolled his eyes, and just shoved a piece of cake in his mouth as he waited for the old man to come back to himself. He was smiling when he did, the same dangerous one he’d had when Naruto had made it clear he was coming for the man’s office, and he felt his pulse spike.
“I had a different gift in mind for you today, but I think I can arrange that as a second,” He mused, leaning back in his seat. He made his pipe appear again, taking a long drag before letting the smoke seep from the edges of his mouth. “It has been a while since I’ve had a good spar, after all.”
Naruto hummed around his fork, savoring the cake in his mouth. It was good, soft and crumbly, and the icing was just sweet enough to compliment the cake itself without overpowering the undertones of it’s own taste-vanilla and something slightly tart Naruto couldn’t name, and against his will, Sugar Rush flashed in his mind, and the flavors on his tongue became ash.
He takes another bite, of course, because like hell he was gonna let himself have a breakdown in front of the old man right now. He hadn’t even been that close to Sato, so there was no use in getting upset over never getting to see his stupid face or share the kitchen with him again…
“So, who’re you gonna fight?” He asks, because if Naruto doesn’t get a distraction right the fuck now he’s gonna start spiraling over other people he’d never see again. It’s kinda pathetic, that it’s been 3 years and he’s still not over this shit, but then, he still has nightmares about Dabi’s stupid ass hand on his neck so maybe that’s just the PTSD catching up with him. Naruto didn’t know and at least right now he didn’t care to find out.
“Ah, I have a few people in mind. Rest assured Naruto-kun, I’ll show you what I’m capable of,” he promises, and that’s how they end up in some kind of training field. It was probably private, given they’d taken a tunnel to get to it. It’d been a long walk too, enough to make his stupid baby legs tired. Not that he even thought of asking to be carried. Getting picked up against his will was humiliating enough.
When they did get there, the sun made Naruto squint. His eyes adjusted quickly enough though, letting him see the rocky field they’d come to. Its boundary was marked by the tree line, leaving an open space that Katsuki would’ve been comfortable stretching his legs in. They weren’t alone either, because standing in the middle of the field kinda looking like he wanted to be somewhere else was Booze Breath.
“Sandaime-sama, glad to see you keeping yourself sharp, buuut,” his eyes drifted from the Hokage to Naruto, and he got the same pricking feeling on the back of his neck as the last time he’d met those eyes. “This is fairly spur of the moment, especially on Naruto-kun’s birthday.”
“Well, he did only ask for this gift today,” The Hokage said as he walked further into the clearing, and the look Naruto got from Booze Breathe left him feeling more and more like a bug pinned to a wall, and that put a scowl on his face.
“You better not be a pushover, Booze Breath,” Naruto snapped, first to break that stupid look, and second because this whole thing would be useless if this guy turns out to be a weakling. The not quite insult drew a laugh out of the man, sharp and a little unnerving, but it gets him to look at Naruto less like some puzzle that needs solving, so he took it as a win.
“Oh I’m not, kid, but most people look like wimps next to the professor." Booze Breath’s grin had gone wry, and Naruto scoffed, even if he understood completely. The number of heroes who looked like anything next to Allmight was a short list too.
“Tch, you need a handicap or somethin’ then?” He challenged, but if the guy was insulted, he didn’t show it. He looked to the Hokage instead, one eyebrow arched in silent question.
“That isn’t such a bad idea, Naruto-kun. Hound, Tiger,” the Hokage called, and Naruto barely caught the blurs of motion that darted out of the trees. One moment there was nothing, and then suddenly three more people were kneeling in the clearing in front of the old man, wearing painted masks and grey armor. One had a head of silver hair kinda like the guy that’d caught him trying to escape the tower, while the others was long and purple, and probably a chick, but they were almost eerily still, and if it weren’t for the low level malice one of them had directed at him he’d guess they were statues. “Please lend Shikaku-san a hand.”
The two masked figures didn’t speak, just nodded as they rose to join Booze Breath on the other side of the field the Hokage took a few steps back from his sparring partners, and started going through the motions of limbering up. It was a little surreal to watch someone so old move so easily, and it demanded the same level of respect he has for Gran Torino. It took balls or skill or both to stay in the game long enough to go grey, and as the Hokage shifted to his next stretch, Naruto was willing to believe he had it all in spades.
“It should be safe to watch from there, Naruto-kun” the old man pointed to a couple of benches near the hidden door they’d just come out of, and Naruto was man enough to admit he was greatfull to final fucking sit down. The sooner he could get his endurance up, the better.
The old man had swapped the robes for something that looked like he’d actually be able to move in. A weird jumpsuit with mesh around his forearms and shins. It didn’t seem all that protective, but then, Katsuki’s hero suit hadn’t been much better. The old man finished stretching, and then stood with a just too wide smile on his face, the sort of grin that promised violence rather than kindness.
“Watch closely, Naruto-kun. This is the strength you will have to reach for,” He declared. Naruto leaned forward, his focus narrowing to the field, because the Hokage was right. This was what he was shooting for-what he’d have to surpass to become number one.
There was no call to start, just some unspoken agreement seconds after the Hokage’s words. The tension in the air hadn’t even had time to build before it was snapped in had, and the two masked shinobi were springing forward like Four Eyes when he got in high gear. He’d seen Shinobi on the move before, knew they could be as fast or faster than people back home even without an apparent quirk, but there was a difference between that and getting to witness it up close. He could just barely track the flash of weapons being drawn before the old man was weaving between two blades.
They were long and straight and ought to give the two attackers an advantage, but he flowed past them like water. The one with the longer hair and cat mask managed to draw her sword back to guard, and that meant the palm meant for the stomach found the flat of her blade instead. Her partner hadn’t been so lucky, but Naruto saw him twist with the force of the blow, skidding back just a few feet instead of going flying like the cat mask had.
Something else caught Naruto’s attention though. Beer Breath hadn’t gone in for the brawl, standing with his hands in some weird shape instead, and it only took a second to clock why. His shadow had warped, snaking across the ground in a thin tendril trailing just a beat behind the masks. It was just about strike and do…something, but it never got the chance as the Hokage leapt back.
His mind was forced to race as the dog mask dove in close again, meeting the Hokage when he landed to slash at him again, a quick cut going for the old man’s shoulder. He leaned just so, his body sliding out of the blade’s path by the barest margin before rapid footwork was carrying him past its length and into his own range, priming the old man to plant a fist into the forearm the mask had raised in defense. There was no crack of bone, but the impact still must’ve been rough from the way the dog mask shook. He was forced to parry the damn near instant follow up with his sword as the Hokage threw another palm, but it was just a hair slow enough for a counterattack.
It came in the form of a kunai in his off hand, which would’ve been more alarming if they hadn’t opened up with fucking swords. He plunged the tip towards the old man’s neck, and for a second Naruto’s blood chilled, up until the old man deflected the strike away with his gauntlet and a metal clang. It left Dog Mask open for the retaliatory knife hand aimed for his own neck, one he only narrowly diverted with the pommel of his sword, and he got a bit of breathing room when the swing the deflection ran into forced the Hokage to lean back.
Naruto’s eyes widened when he kept dropping, allowing himself to almost hit the floor as he pivoted into a leg sweep. It made Dog Mask hop back and out of his own range. The Old man might’ve followed him to keep the pressure on, but a tendril of shadow darted between the dog mask’s legs, forcing him to jump away again. This time though the shadow pursued, striking again and again like a snake. It may have only been 2D, but it twisted and lunged like a living thing, holding the Hokage’s focus as he drove the old man right into Cat mask.
She greeted him with a stab.
It was just as much of a what the fuck moment given her aim, but the Hokage batted aside the blade with his palm. He went for the same move he’d opened up with, but Cat Mask had learned her lesson and just barely spun out of the way, pushing the momentum of it into a wide horizontal cut the Hokage had to limbo under. She was already halfway through the follow-up when he rose, a rising slash that the Hokage only just diverted with an open palm. There was a slight flourish as she realigned her edge, a moment so short Naruto hadn’t even caught it, but it was enough for the old man to step in close into her range.
Her down stroke was shoved aside as the Hokage planted an elbow into her chest. The strike killed any further attack as Cat Mask backpedaled only for the Hokage to match her step for step. He threw a jab with every move, sneaking blows through his target’s fragile guard. She wasn’t just eating it of course, parrying what she could and turning with what she couldn’t, but the damage was adding up, and one pivot to slow was all it took for her to take a vicious knee to the gut. Credit where it was due though, she didn’t fall, even if Naruto was sure she’d wretched behind her mask.
Still, Naruto was willing to bet the exchange was just a few hits from ending. Fortunately for cat mask though, her partner was finally jumping back into the fray.
He’d been circling around wide to get the Hokage’s back, and seeing as his partner was getting her ass kicked as hard as he had, he needed to do something about it yesterday. He dove into the melee, both hands on his sword as he made to swing at the Hokage’s unprotected back. Naruto got almost nauseating dejavu when the old man snatched the Cat Mask by her wrist, spun around, and swatted him out of the air with her body, sending them both tumbling into a heap. It was just a beat after that Booze Breath struck with his shadow quirk again, and once again the old man leapt out of its path to land near the clearing center.
He might’ve laughed if he had the time. As it stood, things were moving far too fast for him to do anything but watch, because a single mistimed blink and he’d miss an entire bout. The masks untangled themselves quickly, and went right back to engaging the old man, and this time, they weren’t alone. Three times was enough for Shikaku to get through his head that his quirk wasn’t gonna work, and this time the Hokage had three attackers from three angles to deal with.
Naruto held his breath, waiting to see whatever move the old man would pull next. He expected more hand to hand, the good old fashioned beating your opponents into the fucking dirt, but instead of engaging in some chaotic three on one brawl, the old man brought his hands together, forming a cross with his fingers. Naruto had half a beat to wonder what the hell that was before 2 puffs of smoke appeared on either side of the Hokage, and suddenly there were 3 of him.
And just like that, in an instant, the fight had gotten three times as complicated, and twice as hard to follow. The 3 old men were identical, in appearance and intent as they each engaged their targets. Naruto was pretty sure the original had gone after Booze Breath, while the clones took on the masks. It was hard to tell, with the way his eyes were jumping between engagements.
Booze breath fled to the far side of the field, which was smart given how the old man had taken apart armed opponents. Without a weapon, he’d probably get absolutely trashed. Or that's what Naruto expected, but when the Hokage actually caught up to him booze breath did something that made a puff of smoke, and suddenly he and Dog Mask had swapped places, the sword wilder already poised to strike, but so was the Hokage to defend, but instead of blocking or dodging the hit he just…froze.
Naruto had a single beat to wonder why before his eyes darted down to the old man’s shadow, a thin line stretching from it to where the Dog Mask had been before the swap he pulled. Not far from where the Cat was barely holding on, but far enough to use his quirk. It hard crated a window, and even if it only lasted a moment, Naruto knew well that at this level that was all you needed. A moment was enough for the Dog Mask to get a solid hit in with his sword, slashing right across the old man’s throat.
That was a death blow.
Naruto had maybe a beat to comprehend, the ‘what the fuck’ already half way out of his mouth before the Old man that’d just been fucking executed exploded into smoke rather then, you know, bleeding out like people were supposed to when they got their jugular cut.
There was a surge of relief, but then he remembered how the Mask had even gotten the chance to dispatch one of the old man’s clones, and his mind stuttered.
It made Naruto blink, his mouth working open and closed as he tried to reconcile two distinct quirks from someone other than Izuku or any of the freaks of nature one for all created, and that lapse was all it took for him to miss the next exchanges. It was easier to keep track of two fights instead of 3, but not by much. A punch there and a deflection here as the masks ganged up on the old man’s…well, he wasn’t sure if it was a clone anymore. it was like the mud fucker from camp-twin or something, Katsuki hadn’t bothered to remember his villain name, and Naruto sure as hell wasn’t gonna go digging in his memrory for it. Clones identical to the original, but loads more fragile. Still, if you were that fuckin strong to begin with, even a weakass clone of you could do some real damag.
Case and point, that there were two of them mattered as much for the masks now as it had before. The Hokage parried and struck and with the same ease he had before, clone or not. And now that Booze Breath was properly engaged, he was getting his ass handed to him too. The Hokage wasn’t giving him the room to use either of his quirks again-which he had two of, apparently-and it was only a matter of time before the Hokage had his opponents down.
It happened in a flash, with precision Naruto only ever saw top tier pros display. Booze Breath went down first, his leading leg hooked by the old man’s when he stepped in close. They fell together, but the Old man was on top with a Kunai at Shikaku’s throat.
The masks were subdued less gracefully, and Naruto didn’t even realize what exactly was happening till the wire the two were slowly being entrapped in caught the sun’s light, and then the Hokage tugged just so and suddenly the two were bound together in a tangle of limbs and thread.
“I do believe that is my win,” The old man said as the version of him pinning Booze Breath popped into smoke-so that’d been the clone then. He looked to Naruto with a sharp grin, and it sent a shot of adrenaline through Naruto’s system. “I hope that was Informative, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto leaned back from the edge of his seat, because it had been. Extremely so, and if he had as little self respect as Izuku or were 10 years younger he’d be gushing right now. Fortunately, Naruto wasn’t some fanboy, especially not for a man he’d known for 3 years-no matter how much of a grade A badass he was. He settled for a curt nod instead of any Izuku-like rambles, because before anything else this had been a setting of the goal post.
“Better be grateful, kid. It’s not every day you get a frontrow seat to the Hokage beating someone into the dirt,” Shikaku said from the ground, still laid out in the grsss, which was good, because Naruto had some fucking questions. He hoped from his seat on the bench, stomping over to where the man had been taken down.
“How the fuckin hell do you have more than one Quirk, Booze Breath?” He demanded, looming over the prone man with all of his not even a meter of height. Bored eyes drifted to him slowly, and Naruto’s stomach churned when they sharpened. He shoved down the pinned bug feeling, replacing it with the familiar heat of rage as he crossed his arms with a scowl, the perfect picture of intimidation if he weren’t a fucking 3 year old. “Well?”
Booze Breath chuckled. Chuckled, and the only reason Naruto didn’t kick him for it was because the bastard was already down.
“Wow Sandaime-Sama, you might wanna ask the nannies to watch their language,” He said, sitting up slowly, and the bastard was tall enough that Naruto had to look up to him now, but he refused to shrink under the analytical eye boring into his. He wanted to punch the lazy smirk off his face, especially with the frustratingly familiar light of amusement behind his eyes. “And people have plenty of quirks, Naruto-kun. Having a good drink just happens to be one of mine.”
This motherfucker.
“Not your alcoholism or whatever,” he snapped, because there was a difference between a quirk and a Quirk and if this idiot was half as important as Naruto thought then he oughta know some shit as basic as that. “You’re fuckin shadow thing, and then how you swapped with the guy in the dog mask. That’s two Quirks, or did you forget how to count when Sandaime-Oji socked you in the face?”
“Two Jutsu,” Booze Breath corrected with the sort of drawl reserved for explaining things to toddlers, and it rose Naruto’s hackles as much as it did his interest, because he had a sneaking suspicion ‘jutsu’ wasn’t just another word for ‘Quirk’. Lifting an eyebrow was his signal for the man to go on, which he did after forcing Naruto to crane his neck even further by standing up. God, his first growth spurt could not come soon enough…
“Second one is just basic substitution, Kawarimi. You’ll learn it in the academy for sure-it’s a graduation requirement after all,” He explained, and Naruto’s world tilted on its axis as everything he thought he knew was thrown out of alignment. Quirks were genetic. You couldn’t just learn them. Sure, All for One and One for All got fucky, and so did the Copycat from 1-B, but regular people couldn't just pick up someone else’s quirk with enough practice.
But Kawarimi wasn’t a Quirk. It was a jutsu, and apparently jutsu could be fucking learned.
Booze Breath’s smirk had turned into a grin, the type that ate shit and made Naruto contemplate his odds of putting a matching bruise on the other side of the man’s face and let him know he was gonna hate whatever the fucker said next.
“As for the first? Clan secret, kid. Ask me again after you marry into the Nara clan.”
“How?” The demand left Naruto’s mouth before he even realized, a buzzing under his skin demanding to know right the fuck now. “And not how to get into your stupid clan, I’d rather eat glass.”
“Harsh, Naruto-Kun, and here I thought we were friends,” And he had the gall to hold a hand over his heart like he’d been wounded. Naruto almost laughed at the irony, but only almost. “Anyways, you were probably gonna learn this soon enough anyhow, so I guess I’ll give you a little primer.”
Naruto’s eyes flicked to the man’s hands as they moved, coming together in front of him to form the same sign he had mid-fight, and suddenly his shadow writhed, bending and undulating like a snake as it extended far beyond what the sun should’ve allowed.
“You do Jutsu with chakra, the intersection between physical and spiritual energies. Get good enough at molding it and you can do all sorts of tricks, juuust like this” he said. Naruto watched the shadow warily, eyes darting from it to its master. He still didn’t know what the hell it did, but he wasn’t keen on finding out. Lucky for him, Booze Breath dropped his hands, and his freaky shadow went back to normal.
“You tellin’ me working out and studying is enough to make chakra?” Which would make learning to use it a lot easier, because Naruto was gonna do those things in spades anyways.
“Not quite, chakra is in everything though,” he said, and so Naruto waited for him to explain more with another raised eyebrow.
He didn’t though, Booze Breath just stood there, hands back in his pockets, staring at Naruto like he was the funniest shit since sliced bread, and he lasted exactly 4 seconds before snapping.
“The fuck do you mean in everything?” He growled.
“I’m Jonin Commander, not an academy teacher, kid. You’ll start learning soon enough anyways,” and…Naruto couldn’t actually protest at that. He settled for a huff to vent his frustration instead, staring into the tree line rather than at Booze Breath’s stupid face. Like hell he was gonna wait till he made it to the academy though. He hadn’t sat on his ass till UA, why the hell would he do any differently now?
“Oi, Sandaime-Oji, that clone thing was jutsu too, right?” He asked, looking to him rather then waste another second on Booze Breath.
“Indeed, the Kage Bunshin to be precise-though it is classed as a forbidden technique,” The old man answered, going through a bunch of cooldown stretches, probably to make sure his old joints didn’t give out. Naruto’s head tutored just slightly at that, the interest plain on his face, and unlike Booze Breath-the coy bastard-the old man actually bothered to explain. “techniques might gain such a label for many reasons, but in this case, it poses a danger to the user-enough to end in death if one isn’t careful in their use of it.”
“Like you?” Naruto prodded
“Like me,” the Hokage agreed, smile sharpening again, even if there was an edge of melancholy to it-the sort old people for when they started talking about their golden years and shit. “I know all of Konoha’s jutsu, and the Kage Bunshin is a speciality of our village, invented by my old sensei, the Nidaime Hokage. I’d hardly be able to call myself his student if I hadn’t mastered it.”
And maybe if Naruto knew who the fuck the Nidiame was he’d be able to muster more then a grunt in response. At the very least, anyone who got that much reverence out of the old man deserved some respect, living or dead.
“As much fun as this has been, there is another important gift I’d like to give you today, Naruto-kun.” The old man said after the quiet dragged on just a hair too long. He’d changed back into his robes at some point, and the Masks had vanished back to wherever they hung around when the Hokage didn’t need them in front of him.
“Right, the one that didn’t require I get my ass handed to me,” Booze Breath groused, and Naruto rolled his eyes. He’d have asked for someone else if he knew the guy was gonna be such a little bitch about it.
“Language, Shikaku-San,” The old man signed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he settled his bigass hat back on his head.
Booze Breath barked out a laugh, waving the Hokage off. “Please, Sandaime-sama, there’s no way I could possibly make that kid’s vocabulary worse than it is.”
“You’re damn right, and it ain’t gettin any better either, dattebayo!” Because the way he spoke was part of him, and like hell he was gonna let this reincarnation bullshit take another piece. Especially when it kept adding shit like that stupid verbal tic.
The old man sighed again, this time in resignation. “I suppose it won’t, will it? Come along Naruto, I do still have a gift to give you today. Have a nice day, Shikaku-San.”
The Hokage turned to leave, headed for the same tunnel they’d arrived in. Naruto looked to Booze breath for a moment, and the man gave him a lazy wave. He only hesitated for a second before giving him a slighter one back before he scrambled to catch up to the Hokage, cursing his stupid short toddler legs before he fell in step next to him, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts.
The walk though the tunnel was the same as last time, that being quiet. The tunnel was just as long on the return leg, and Naruto’s pride was at war with his aching feet when they made it back to the tower. He had expected them to head back to the old man’s office at that point, or maybe his room in the tower, but rather than take a left to the stairs, they went right.
Towards the foyer.
Naruto shot the old man a look, brow raised in question, but the Hokage just kept walking, and he sure as hell wasn’t gonna complain about actually getting to go outside, so Naruto kept to his side. The Hokage gave the same platitudes he usually did to the people they passed. Clouds of hatred clung to them, but same as when he was being held, nobody was dumb enough to try anything in front of the Hokage.
Actually stepping outside the front door was entirely different from the training ground. Wherever that’d been, it was far enough from the city center that the sounds and smells didn’t reach. It’d been peaceful, almost like the summer training camp before everything went to shit. Setting foot in Konoha proper was an entirely different beast then that, one a city kid like him was plenty used to handling.
It wasn't quite the same, of course. The street they walked out onto was full of pedestrians, not cars. The buildings didn’t tower and the din of people had an entirely different tone devoid of cellphones and billboard, but it’d only taken a day in this new world for Naruto to learn that people were people, no matter the universe.
It was a breath of fresh air, to be out and about for once instead of cooped up in the same damn building all the time. Naruto hadn't quite realized he’d been nursing an awful case of cabin fever, and now that he didn’t have a cool fight to distract himself with, he was itching to run and stretch his legs no matter how small they were. The streets of Konoha were as weird from ground level as they were from on high, even if the architecture was vaguely familiar. Buildings and tress fought for space like their lives depended on it, and Naruto wondered how fucked up the foundations were as a result.
But below all that, Naruto noticed something else. Easy to ignore at first, but hard and harder to push down as the traffic around them increased.
As the Hokage, the old man was, unsurprisingly, a public figure, and a big one at that. He drew as many eyes as Allmight would if he decided to walk down the street in his hero form-which was to say, a lot. Thankfully they didn’t run the risk of an impromptu meet and greet every time they stopped, but people still looked at the Hokage when he passed, and seeing as Naruto was at his side, that meant looking at him. He got to watch in real time the result, the way a woman's face went from quiet awe at their village’s principal protector and leader to barely constrained disgust when she noticed him. She tugged her son closer, and when Naruto met her eyes with a glare of his own, her whole body went stiff, and suddenly she and her confused son were walking a lot faster, vanishing into the throng of pedestrians.
Naruto had, perhaps foolishly, thought the weird hatred he’d faced in the tower was specific to the building, maybe something inherited from his parents, hard as that was to believe. Evidently, that wasn’t the fucking case. There had only been clouds in the tower, but out here he passed storms, swirling over people’s heads and settling on their shoulders like rotten capes. It was the same reaction again and again. Reverence, when they saw the Hokage, hatred, when they saw him, clouds of dark animosity rolling in to obscure whatever else they’d been feeling.
And…look, Naruto knew he wasn’t nice, or whatever. He hadn’t been before and dying twice in the same day sure as hadn’t helped soften him, but these people didn’t know him. He was three fucking years old and they were looking at him worse then the crowd at the sports festival had.
Walking under a bridge forced the bubble of space the foot traffic afford the Hokage smaller, and one man bearing a hitai-ate and a thick miasma of hate strayed just close enough for Naruto to hear his muttered curse of “damned little demon,”
And maybe Naruto took the nanny’s insults more personally then he thought, because that had the low level annoyance all the looks had been fostering in him erupting. He stopped, whipping to face the man with his eyes blazing. His hands curled in his pockets, buzzing with the phantom pops of a quirk he didn’t have as he glared up at the offender. The man had bodily flinched back, and Naruto allowed himself the slightest bit of satisfaction.
“Wanna say that again, ya bastard?” He growled, and everyone froze. It was like a spell had been cast, the way every single person seemed to be holding their breath, the way nobody dared moved, as though that alone would be enough to draw his ire. The man had gone pale, pinned by Naruto’s gaze, and he had to wonder how pathetic the guy must be to be intimidated by a three year old.
“Naruto-kun,” the old man said, and the tensions seemed to rise. Naruto turned to look at him slowly, and felt his anger cool when he saw how strained the old man’s smile had become. “Take my hand.”
His eyes flicked to the idiot who insulted him again, whose own gaze was jumping between him and the Hokage like a rabbit, breath coming in short puffs, and Naruto scoffed, because this guy was supposed to be a Shinobi. Even so, de-escalation had been part of his hero training, and Naruto wasn’t super keen on the guy trying to stab him or anything, and as such movements were slow and deliberate as he placed a hand in the Hokage’s. He half expected the old man to haul him off the and there, but his grip was surprisingly loose. Oh, Naruto wasn’t escaping, that was for sure, but it felt more like when he’d held his mom or dad’s hand in public the first time around rather than something punishing.
The Hokage led them off with the same sort of sureness he always moved with, and Naruto followed with only a mild pout. The silence between them was loud enough to block out the entire village. It lasted till the old man broke it, a block and half later.
“That wasn’t a very kind thing to do Naruto-kun.” And boy wasn’t that a familiar admonishment. His heart panged slightly, because it was so very easy to imagine Best Jeanist saying that instead. “You shouldn’t alienate the people you wish to lead someday,”
“Fucker shouldn’t go callin’ three year olds name,” Naruto bit out, scowling up at old man, because at least when Jeanist had said it, Katsuki had been a teenager and kind of a shithead who deserved it at least a third of the time. But Naruto was still in the single fucking digits. Where the hell did a grown man get off acting that petty to a baby in public?
The Hokage sighed, frowning with his brows drawn, hand twitching for a pipe he probably couldn’t be seen with in public. “…You are right, Naruto-kun. But even so, we cannot control the actions of others, only ourselves.”
“Tch, whatever…” Naruto scoffed, because expecting him to take crap like that on the chin was bullshit, and he bet the old man knew it. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d even done anything outside of matching the guy’s energy. Honestly, the Hokage oughta be wondering why one of his vaunted Shinobi was scared shitless by a toddler.
Fortunately the old man didn’t bother trying to lecture him anymore, and it seemed holding the Hokage’s hand was enough to keep anyone else from saying stupid shit as they kept trekking. It felt like forever before they finally stopped in front of a tall rounded building.
“This it?” Naruto asked, and prayed for the Hokage’s sake that whatever was in this building was worth it.
“Not quite, we’ll need to climb the stairs for that,” Which, fair, but that didn’t keep Naruto from scowling as they climbed the steps, his legs protesting each and every one as the passed floor after floor till they were at the building’s highest one. Based on all the doors they passed, he could only guess this was an apartment building or something. He had a moment to wonder why the Hokage would drag him all the way to someone's apartment before he remembered what he’d said a year and change ago.
But there was no way, right? Naruto was literally three years old, surely the old man wouldn’t actually let him live alone.
“It took some time to arrange, but…” and as the Hokage led Naruto to one of the only doors on the floor Naruto could only think holy shit, he would. The old man reached into his sleeve when they did get to the door, and from it he produced a key he held out for Naruto to take. “Happy birthday, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto took the key a little reverently, feeling the weight of it, of what it meant. His head pingponged between what the fuck, old man and hell yeah, but at the end of the day it wasn’t hard to settle on the latter. Sure, his apparent age made this whole thing questionable at best, but there was no way he’d spend another day dealing with Nannies who hated him when he could be living it up on his own.
It took a jump to get the key in, and a hassle to open the door, but he manages both, and only has to glare at the Hokage once for laughing. Stepping into his apartment revealed it wasn’t especially big- just a studio, really-but it isn’t small either. The old man had the courtesy to furnish the place ahead of time, too, which saved Naruto the trouble of getting furniture. There was a kitchenette to his left, and ahead of him a table he already knows he’ll end up using for dining. Beyond that, he could see a bed, which meant the bathroom was one of the doors to his right.
It was…sterile, but given nobody had been living there yet, that wasn’t too much of a surprise. He’d make it his, because it was his, and as Naruto turned in a circle to take it all in, a smile spread across his face.
When he was facing the Hokage again, the man had stepped in after him, and if Naruto hadn’t spent most of the last 3 years in his presence so often he might’ve missed the slight edge of nerves in his smile.
“You’ll have an allowance of course, one I’ll be sure is provided till you can support yourself, and rent will never be a concern,” The man explained, as if anybody would expect a toddler to pay rent. Then again, they were chill with a toddler living alone-not that Naruto was complaining-so maybe it would be a problem someday.
“And I’ll be sure to visit you whenever I can, at least twice a month,” the old man added after a beat, and Naruto let out an amused huff.
“Can’t miss tea time and shit. That all?” He asked, one eyebrow raised. He may not have had any shit to move, but that just meant he’d be going out to buy stuff instead. Cloths were probably the biggest thing, and groceries, and toiletries too, and-
A lot, he had a lot to do, and that was before he even factored in how he was gonna start training. The sooner be got started, the better, and he couldn’t do shit with the Hokage breathing down his neck.
The old man had a weird look on his face, smiling in that sad sort of way Aizawa sensei did during the war when he thought none of them were looking. “…I suppose so. I hope you’ll be happier here than in the tower.”
Naruto cast his eyes around again, taking in the apartment he’d been gifted. It wasn’t home yet, but it was his, and that was more than could be said about his room in the tower. That and the confidence he’d carried since the day he’d been born the first time made his voice sure as Shell.
“Don’t worry, Sandaime-Oji, I will be.”