When the money people stole from me became too much to ignore, the old Hokage finally stepped in.
After that, someone wearing an animal mask—a shinobi called ANBU—would always bring me food.
Since it was something the old man had personally ordered, there were fewer occasions when spoiled ingredients arrived. But I still did not know how to cook, so I just ate the ingredients with their peels still on.
But then, for some reason, two days passed after my food ran out, and no one brought me anything to eat.
At first, I simply waited quietly. But eventually, unable to endure the pain of hunger, I decided to go outside.
"The money I have left... 500 yen. Can I buy anything with this?"
I did not want to go out, and I did not even know whether I could buy anything if I did. But my stomach hurt so badly that I could not just lie still.
People hated me, so I pulled my hood low and hid my face as much as I could. Still, as if it were only natural, I could feel their stinging gazes.
"Tch, seeing a monster first thing in the morning. What rotten luck."
"Sweetie, do not go near that child. She is a monster."
"Have you heard the rumor that the Fourth Hokage died because of that thing?"
"And it still walks around like it has nothing to be ashamed of... Ptoo."
"..."
I pretended not to hear them, pulled my hood even lower, and fled.
But...
"Hey, look. It is the monster."
I met the eyes of children around my own age.
Adults insulted me, but they did not openly act too much when other people were watching. Children were different.
With eyes full of pure malice, they began following me and tormenting me as though it were only natural.
They picked up stones from the ground and threw them at me as I desperately ran away.
"N-no..."
Because I ran as hard as I could, I managed to avoid the stones at first. But I had not eaten properly in three days, and I soon ran out of strength.
Then, a flying stone struck me between the eyes and fell away.
Trickle—
Blood ran from between my brows, and pain followed.
At first, I did not know what blood was. But I knew one thing for certain: when I saw blood, it hurt.
When I collapsed while clutching my wound, the child who had thrown the stone shouted.
"Yes! Bullseye!"
"Huh? Me too, me too!"
"All right! Then it is a contest!"
Countless stones flew at me, and all I could do was curl up.
Every time a stone hit me, I cried out, "Ugh!" or "Aah!" and wept. But the children did not care. They just kept throwing stones.
The adults nearby did not stop them. Instead, they laughed, watched with cold eyes, or ignored me and went on their way.
"Die, monster!"
"Yes! I hit its head!"
"Ah, I am hungry."
"Should we get going?"
Perhaps they had finally grown tired of enthusiastically throwing rocks. Laughing, the children ran off, and little by little, I began to relax.
Then the pain throughout my body hit me, and I could not properly get up.
When I looked down, I was covered in bruises and wounds.
"Ugh..."
"What is this? Why are you lying around here looking so filthy?"
"Hey, just ignore it."
People passed by, insulting me.
I was already used to it. I rested until I recovered a little, wiped away tears that I did not know when I had started crying, and got to my feet.
Then I fled from there as though escaping.
I wanted to run straight home and cry, but there was something I needed to do first.
I am hungry. And it hurts...
I staggered toward a shop.
"Get lost! I have nothing to sell to a monster!"
Thud—
"!!!"
I had barely arrived at the shop when the owner kicked me in the stomach, sending me flying before I could even enter.
For a moment, everything went white. I flew through the air, then rolled across the ground.
"...!...!!"
It hurt so much that I could not even scream. As I clutched my aching stomach and writhed in pain, the shop owner glared at me as though I were garbage and shouted.
"Do not ever come back! Tch, what rotten luck, filth... Hey, bring me some salt. I need to cleanse the bad omen."
The shop owner openly scattered salt over me as I lay on the ground, cursing at me to get out. I forced my body to move, weakly stood up, and ran away.
When I looked around, contemptuous gazes surrounded me as though it were only natural.
"What is it? Looks like the monster did something again."
"Honestly, what is the Hokage even thinking... not locking something like that up..."
"..."
Clutching my aching stomach, I staggered instinctively into an alley with no sign of people.
"Huff... huff..."
When I saw no one around, I leaned my aching body against the wall to rest for a moment. Then I noticed a fierce-looking man standing in front of me.
Judging by the forehead protector he wore, he was a shinobi.
"Well, well, monster. If you came outside, that means you have money on you, right?"
"...!"
"Where do you think you are going!"
"Aah!"
The moment I saw he was a shinobi, I tried to run. But he roughly grabbed my wrist and lifted me into the air.
Hanging by one arm, an indescribable pain rushed through my arm and shoulder.
The shinobi looked at what I was holding, smiled, and snatched it away. But when he saw that it was only 500 yen, his expression instantly hardened.
"What is this? Why is this all you have?"
"U-ugh..."
"Where did you hide the rest of it, you filthy monster!"
Then he began beating me without warning. I was struck so helplessly that I lost count of how many times he hit me.
"Tch. Next time, if you do not bring more, I will gouge your eyes out with this!"
"..."
He drove a kunai into the ground in front of my eyes as a threat, then disappeared.
After some time passed, I tried to put strength into my body and get back up, but I could not. I collapsed again.
As if things were not bad enough, rain began to fall. I felt my body growing colder and colder, and my vision gradually blurred.
"Wh... why...?"
Tears fell from my eyes, filled with injustice, pain, and loneliness. Then I lost consciousness.
It was soft and warm.
What am I doing...?
Right... I was definitely on my way home... then I met that shinobi...
...
I cannot remember anything after that...
Still, it was soft.
I had never felt anything like this before. My body and heart were exhausted, so I let go of my tension and rested.
Then, along with the sound of a door opening, someone came in.
Noticing their presence, I opened my eyes. When I realized I was somewhere unfamiliar, I tried to rise in alarm, but the pain made me collapse again.
"You must not move yet!"
"...!"
At the sound of a woman’s voice, I was even more startled and instinctively tried to flee. But I fell again. In the end, I curled up, bracing myself for the violence that would come.
But what came to me was warm comfort.
"It is all right. You are safe here. Calm down."
"...?"
At that unexpected response, I slowly opened my eyes. A woman was holding me and gently patting me.
Only then did I notice the bandages and adhesive bandages wrapped around my body.
I had never seen her before. Did this person treat me?
W-why...?
I am a monster, though?
"W-who...?"
Grrrrowl—
I had tried to ask, "Who are you?" But my stomach growled and cut me off.
Seeing me like that, the woman grinned. She told me to wait a moment, then lifted me into her arms.
"!!!"
"It is okay. I will not hurt you. I promise."
I could not fully trust her words. But I was not even in a condition to resist, so I had no choice but to stay quietly in her arms as she left the room and went down the stairs.
We arrived at a large restaurant.
There was no one there, and the metal shutter was down, so it seemed the restaurant was closed.
Inside, a man was cleaning in the kitchen. When he saw the woman and me, he spoke.
"Oh, you are finally awake. Are you feeling all right?"
"...!"
At the sight of the man, I began trembling in fear without realizing it. The woman reassured me.
"It is okay. He looks scary, but my dad is kind!"
"I look scary..."
"Anyway, Dad, this child is hungry. Could you make her something?"
"Whew, all right! I will make you some incredibly delicious ramen, so wait just a moment!"
Before I knew it, I was seated and waiting. I had only ever looked at restaurants like this from far away, so sitting inside one made me wonder if I was dreaming.
I thought people were kind because this was a dream. But after some time, a delicious scent wafted from where the man was making something, so good that it made me drool without realizing it. That was when I understood this was not a dream.
Why are they doing this for me...?
I had never known either the word or the act of kindness. Their treatment of me left me confused.
As I sat there in confusion, they set a dish called ramen in front of me.
"Eat it while it is warm. Using chopsticks is... still too difficult for you, right? Here is a fork."
I cautiously spoke to the man as he handed me the fork.
"I-I do not have any money."
"Hahaha, do not worry about that! This one is on me!"
"It is okay. You can eat slowly."
The woman stroked my hair as she spoke. I was anxious, but soon my hunger overcame me, and I put the food called ramen into my mouth.
In that instant, I opened my eyes wide in shock.
It was the first proper food I had ever eaten... and the first time I had ever experienced the feeling of something being delicious.
The woman watching me smiled brightly and spoke.
"Well? Our ramen is delicious, right?"
Trickle—
Without realizing it, tears began to fall.
It was a warm feeling I had never known before... I had no way to describe it, so I could only cry.
I was not suffering. I was not in pain. I did not know why I was crying, but the tears would not stop.
The man and the woman gently comforted me at my side until I stopped crying.
After some time, I stopped crying and finished every last bit of the ramen.
Then, watching their reactions, I cautiously asked a question.
"Why... why do you not hit me?"
"Why would we hit you?"
"Why do you not insult me?"
"There is no reason to insult you."
"I-I am actually a monster..."
For a moment, the man looked flustered at those words. Then he gave a bitter smile and said:
"I was late with introductions! My name is Teuchi. I run this ramen shop!"
"I am his daughter, Ayame. It is nice to meet you."
"Little one, what is your name?"
"Uzumaki... Naruto..."
When they heard my name, Teuchi and Ayame stroked my head as they spoke.
"So your name is Naruto. What a very beautiful name!"
It was the first time.
The first time anyone had treated me like this...
But I did not know how I should react... what I should say...
I did not know at all.
But Teuchi kept talking to me.
"Do you understand? You are not a monster. You are Naruto."
I do not remember much of what happened after that.
I think I cried myself to sleep in Teuchi and Ayame’s arms.
It was a very precious day—the day I first understood what happiness was.
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