"Oh, Iruka. You have been working hard."
"Not at all, Lord Hokage. I heard you were looking for me. What is it?"
"Iruka, there is a child I would like to entrust to you in particular."
"To me? But I am only an ordinary chunin."
"No, it is precisely because it is you that I am asking."
Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, handed Iruka some documents. Iruka accepted them with a tense expression.
Then, when he read them, Iruka's face darkened.
"L-Lord Hokage, this child... could she be?!"
"Yes. Uzumaki Naruto, the Jinchuriki who contains the Nine-Tails. As you know, this child is hated by the villagers."
"..."
"That is why no one wishes to be Naruto's homeroom teacher. At this rate, Naruto will not become a shinobi and will become unemployed in the future—"
"W-Wait a moment, please! There must be someone else better suited for Naruto—"
"Without a homeroom teacher, we cannot have her attend the Academy!"
Iruka sighed at Hiruzen's words. Realizing that nothing he said would make a difference anyway, he quietly opened his mouth.
"Please give me a moment. Let me think..."
"Oh, does that mean you will accept being Naruto's homeroom teacher?"
"Ah... Huh? I mean... yes."
"Excellent! Yes, yes, I am counting on you, Iruka."
"Haa... Understood."
Having accepted the Hokage's request before he knew it, Iruka could not stop sighing even after leaving the Hokage's office.
Just then, another teacher, one of his colleagues, approached him with a greeting.
"Iruka, I heard you are becoming that child's homeroom teacher... What terrible luck."
"Yes... Well, that child is what she is."
"Just treat her casually. Casually."
"Casually?"
"Yes. If we do not engage with her, she will eventually drop out on her own."
"..."
Iruka did not answer, but even after work, the other teacher's words lingered in his mind.
Then suddenly, he recalled his childhood.
The Nine-Tails Incident.
It was a horrific day that had now become taboo even to mention, and the day Iruka's parents had died.
Yet it was hard to believe that the Nine-Tails Fox from that day would now become his student.
Iruka could not sleep that night.
After becoming friends with Sakura, Naruto's life changed a little.
Naruto, who had always stayed home reading books or talking with Kurama, began going outside more often.
More precisely, she began meeting her new friend, Sakura.
Rather than meeting openly as she had when going to Teuchi's shop, they met in secret, avoiding other people's eyes. Naruto still had not properly shown Sakura either her name or her face.
Of course, Sakura found that strange as well, but she did not pry into her friend's secret.
Then one day, when the Third Hokage came again and asked her a question, Naruto remembered the Academy matter she had forgotten about.
"Huh? What did you just say?"
"I found you a homeroom teacher for the Academy, so you will be able to attend starting next term."
"..."
Naruto was stunned for a moment by the Hokage's words, but he exhaled smoke from his pipe and spoke.
"It will surely be a good opportunity, so do your best. Now then, I should be going."
"W-Wait—"
Unable to stop the Hokage, who left without hearing her, Naruto blankly watched his retreating back before sinking to the floor.
He had told her to think it over last time, yet he had decided she would attend the Academy without even hearing her answer.
"Just as I thought, I do not like that man. His half-hearted kindness makes me want to vomit."
"..."
Somewhat agreeing with Kurama, Naruto began to worry about the Academy.
Later, as she talked with Sakura during one of their meetings, the topic naturally turned to the Academy.
"My mom said I should enroll in the Ninja Academy. My family is not even a shinobi family, so I am worried..."
"Sakura... you too?"
"Huh, Kurama, you are going to the Ninja Academy too? That is a relief, at least. Knowing someone there makes me feel a little better."
"...Yeah."
Naruto shyly affirmed Sakura's words.
For a brief moment, she wondered if the Academy might be all right if Sakura was with her. But then she remembered that she was hiding both her name and the fact that she was a monster from Sakura.
If Sakura finds out I am a monster too, she will hate me...
But then she remembered Teuchi's shop being destroyed, and the thought suddenly crossed her mind that Sakura might be harmed if things continued like this.
Sakura will suffer?
When Ayame's sorrowful face overlapped with Sakura's in her mind, Naruto felt her heart plummet.
"Kurama, what is wrong?"
"..."
Naruto realized it then.
Having a friend was a luxury she could not afford.
That if she stayed beside Sakura, she would bring her nothing but unhappiness.
And so...
"Sakura."
So that Sakura would be hurt less, Naruto decided to leave her herself.
"We will never see each other again."
"...What?"
"At the Academy, it would be better if you do not act like you know me."
"W-What are you suddenly talking about, Kurama?"
Startled by Naruto's abrupt change in attitude, Sakura continued.
"Do not make jokes like that. It is not funny at all..."
"It is not a joke. So never again... never again..."
For a moment, the tears rushing up nearly choked Naruto's words. But she forced them back and spoke.
"Do not come near me."
As Naruto finished speaking and turned to leave, Sakura, hurt, began to cry and shouted after her.
"W-Wait! You said we were friends!!"
"...!"
Naruto paused for a moment at Sakura's words, but steeled herself and spoke.
"...You were mistaken."
Naruto immediately fled as though running away.
Sakura's sobs behind her weighed heavily on her shoulders, but she did not stop running.
"This is enough... This is right..."
"Naruto..."
"Sorry, Kurama. I want to be alone right now..."
"..."
"I do not think I can keep my promise not to cry right now... I am sorry..."
"I do not care..."
After declaring that she and Sakura were no longer friends, Naruto's life returned to how it had been before.
Naruto grew more worn down, but she barely endured with the thought that she could keep Sakura from being harmed.
Most of all, because Kurama was still by Naruto's side, she did not make the terrible choice she had once made.
And as time passed, the day of enrollment at the Ninja Academy finally arrived.
"Do not push yourself, Naruto. You do not have to go."
"But... Grandpa asked me to. It would be troublesome for him if I did not go now."
"Hmph, that damned Grandpa this, Grandpa that. Haa... In the end, you are the one who will be hurt, Naruto."
"I know. But now that Sakura is gone too, Grandpa is all I really have left. Ah, o-of course, I have you too, Kurama!"
"Tch. Enough."
As Naruto walked toward the Academy while talking with Kurama, she noticed that more people than usual were out on the streets and hurriedly hid herself in an alley.
"It is finally our son's entrance ceremony!"
"He is definitely going to become a great shinobi!"
"Do not get hurt, sweetheart. Listen to your teacher."
"Do not worry, Mom!"
The Academy entrants walked down the street hand in hand with their families.
Naruto felt isolated at the sight for a moment, but realizing that she was with Kurama now eased her envy a little.
More importantly, at this rate I might run into other people...
Not wanting to be cursed at or attacked by people first thing in the morning, Naruto pulled her hood low over her face and walked while trying not to draw anyone's attention.
Then, when she spotted Sakura in the distance with a sad expression, alongside adults who appeared to be her parents, Naruto stopped walking.
I cannot run into Sakura...!
Naruto turned to take another route, but because she had pulled her hood too low and could not see properly, she collided with someone and fell.
"Are you all right, kid?"
"S-Sorry!"
Encountering someone else terrified Naruto, and she hurriedly got up and fled as though escaping.
The boy Naruto had collided with looked after her fleeing figure in confusion when someone approached him.
"Big brother, what are you doing there? Today is my entrance ceremony."
"Sorry, I bumped into someone. Come on, let us go."
"Just watch. I will become a shinobi as quickly as you did, big brother!"
"All right. Do your best, Sasuke."
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